Home ›› 29 Dec 2021 ›› Sport
As 2021 is ending, it’s time for a look back. Football in Bangladesh has been synonymous with disappointment for years now, and this year gifted a mixed bag of feelings.
The year ended in glory as the Under-19 Women’s National Team won the SAFF Championship at home, but the men’s senior team lost out on two finals conceding two last-minute penalties.
In the domestic circuit, Bashundhara Kings retained the league title, lost the Independence Cup final, and were banned from next year’s Federation Cup after they refused to play in this year’s edition at the Shaheed Sipahi Mostofa Kamal Stadium in Dhaka.
The Business Post looks back at the most memorable incidents of Bangladesh football in 2021.
Girls get it done
After securing age-level trophies at almost every other level, Bangladesh managed to seal the U-19 too with a 1-0 win over India in the final on December 22 at the Shaheed Sipahi Mostofa Kamal Stadium in Dhaka.
Anai Mogini scored the winning goal with a superb strike from more than 30 yards out, fittingly representing Bangladesh’s performance throughout the tournament.
Bangladesh conceded not even a single goal throughout the tournament, while they scored 20 in five matches.
Bangladesh winger Shahada Akter Ripa took home awards for the player and top goal-scorer of the tournament.
But what was most prominent was Bangladesh’s performance in the final, where they kept India under the cosh throughout the final, not giving them one bit of space, a performance truly worthy of champions.
And after the final, the team said that it was a small gift to the country celebrating its 50th year of independence, and truly, a suiting one.
So close, yet so far
Bangladesh have not won the men’s SAFF Championship since 2003. They have not reached the final since 2005. But in 2021, they almost did that in Maldives.
Before the tournament, Bangladesh hired Bashundhara Kings coach Oscar Bruzon for the tournament, and with four points from their first three games, Bangladesh faced Nepal in their final match of the group stage, where they needed three points to reach the final for the first time in 16 years.
And they were on their way, courtesy of a ninth-minute goal from striker Suman Reza. And then they almost saw off Nepal, but a dubious penalty in the 88th minute allowed Nepal to equalize, leading to Bangladesh’s elimination from the group stage once again.
Another penalty, another anguish
After the SAFF Championship, Bangladesh Football Federation appointed Dhaka Abahani head coach Mario Lemos as the head coach of the national team which travelled to Sri Lanka to take part in the four-nation Mahinda Rajapaksa tournament, where the other two teams were Seychelles and Maldives.
After drawing against Seychelles and winning against Maldives, Bangladesh only needed a point from their final match of the group stage against Sri Lanka.
In that match, Bangladesh conceded early when Wazeem Razeek scored for Sri Lanka in the 25th minute. But a goal from Jewel Rana drew Bangladesh level, and it looked like everything was finally going Bangladesh’s way.
But it didn’t. Bangladesh conceded a penalty in the last minute of normal time, and Razeek scored from the spot to gift Bangladesh another heartbreak on their way home.
