Bangladesh continued their impressive run in the AFC U-17 Qualifiers in Chongqing, China, securing a 2-1 victory over Bahrain. Bayezid and Manik found the net for the young team, extending their winning streak to four matches.
The group champions of the AFC U-17 Qualifiers will earn a spot in the main tournament in Saudi Arabia next year. With this win, Bangladesh sits at the top of the table with 12 points. Meanwhile, host China is scheduled to face Sri Lanka later today. A win for China would place them level with Bangladesh on points.
The upcoming clash between Bangladesh and China on November 30 will effectively be the decider for the group title. If Bangladesh defeats the hosts, they will secure their place in the top tier of Asian youth football. However, if China drops points today against Sri Lanka, then even a draw against Bangladesh would make them group champions due to superior goal difference.
Hard-Fought Win After Early Misses
Bangladesh dominated their earlier matches against Timor-Leste, Sri Lanka, and Brunei—scoring 18 goals across those fixtures. But Bahrain proved to be a much sterner challenge. The young Bengal boys created multiple chances in the first half, earning several free-kicks and corners, but failing to convert.
Rifat Kazi missed two golden chances in the 20th and 28th minutes, while goalkeeper Sakib produced a key save in the 34th minute. A few moments later, defender Kamal made a crucial goal-line clearance to keep Bangladesh level.
“All three goals arrived in the second half, and the match really opened up,” a team official later shared.
Manik’s superb cross in the 47th minute created an early second-half chance, but Rifat’s shot was blocked by the Bahrain goalkeeper. Bangladesh finally broke through in the 59th minute when Sabbir’s long throw was mishandled by the opposition defenders, allowing Bayezid to pounce and score.
Bahrain’s goalkeeper continued to frustrate Bangladesh, producing back-to-back saves in the 65th and 68th minutes. But in the 72nd minute, Faisal delivered a pinpoint pass to Manik, who unleashed a powerful long-range strike to make it 2-0.
Bahrain pulled one back through Hossain Zubair in the 85th minute, but Bangladesh managed the game smartly to secure a well-earned 2-1 win.
Coach Choton Praises Team’s “Historic Win”
Head coach Golam Rabbani Choton could not hide his pride after the match.
“𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉. 𝑩𝒂𝒉𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚. 𝑶𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒐𝒚𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒃𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎,” 𝑪𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒐 𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑪𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒂.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒘𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒇, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒚𝒔 𝒌𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒑𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕.”
Choton praised his players’ determination, highlighting how they held their nerve after conceding late. He concluded by saying he was immensely proud of the team’s courage and patience in finishing the match strongly.
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