The Bangladeshi player felt that his side could have clinched all three points against India in Kolkata….
Bangladesh captain Jamal Bhuyan felt that his side were fully deserving of all three points after a 1-1 draw against India in a crucial 2022 World Cup qualifier in Kolkata on Tuesday.
Bangladesh looked to be on course to win all three points, courtesy of an error by India goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh that allowed Saad Uddin to head into an open net in the first half.
But a late header from Adil Khan meant that Bangladesh had to settle for a point despite a resolute defensive performance that saw India struggle to break them down.
“If they didn’t score from the corner we would have won. One of our players was sleeping. They tried so many crosses but they failed (to make them count). We felt like we lost today,” he said.
“It was a lack of concentration. They might not have listened to the coach. The guy who was near the first post (who was marking Adil) was sleeping.”
The 29-year-old went on to assert that India would not have scored from open play against Bangladesh. “We didn’t care if India had the ball. They can play in the middle as much as they want. But they could not score from an open play.”
The midfielder went on to state that they were aware of India’s defensive issues and the injury to Sandesh Jhingan further complicated matters for the home team. He revealed that Bangladesh’s plan was to wait for India to commit a mistake.
“We knew that they had problems in the right back position and one centre-back slot. So we just waited and attacked in counters using those deficiencies. They missed a big guy in Sandesh. He is a threat in set-pieces. It was good for us that he missed this game.
“India saved one effort from the line today. It would have been match over then. We waited and waited, as we knew that India’s defence would make mistakes. We have five games left and we want to finish at least third.”
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