Winless and goalless, Bangladesh U20 side crash out of Asian Cup Qualifiers

Bangladesh suffered their third straight defeat in the AFC Under-20 Asian Cup Qualifiers’, losing 0-3 against India on Sunday to finish their campaign without a win or scoring a goal.

The team’s campaign was disastrous both on and off the field, as after defeats to Uzbekistan (0-2) and Syria (0-3) in the first two games, the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) had sacked the team’s head coach Gerard Jones.

Assistant coach Atikur Rahman Misho was flown in from Dhaka to take charge of the team against India, but the change in coach did not bring any respite.

In the match, Danny Laishram opened the scoring in the 25th minute, then Vishal Yadav (60th) and Mohammad Arbash (79th) netted one each in the second half as India eased to a comfortable win.

Just a few months back, the team in red and green had defeated India to lift the SAFF U20 Championship in the Maldives.

The team had arrived in Uzbekistan dreaming of qualifying for the main-stage of the AFC U20 Asian Cup for the first time but ended up failing to cross the group stage.

Bangladesh’s buildup to the tournament was chaotic to say the least, with coach Jones, who was hired in June, at the heart of it.

In the month of August, Jones complained of payment delays, and expressed fears about his safety on social media, He even called the police after a reported altercation with Mishu at the team hotel.

In the press conference before the sides’ departure, neither the head coach nor the players were present. Instead, team manager Sameed Quasem conducted the presser.

The players also underwhelmed in the tournament, looking clueless on the pitch, and getting outclassed by every opponent.