Bangladesh hold Afghanistan to 1-1 draw 

Bangladesh came from behind to hold superior Afghanistan to a 1-1 draw in the second FIFA friendly match at the Bashundhara Kings Arena today.

The charges of Javier Cabrera earlier played out a goalless draw against Afghanistan, who are 32 places ahead of Bangladesh in FIFA ranking, in the first match at the same venue on Sunday.

Sheikh Morsalin tapped in to provide the equaliser for the home side, 10 minutes after Denmark-based forward Jabar Sharza gave Afghanistan a 52-minute lead with a header off a well-judged corner from Dutch-born Omid Popalzy, who once played Bangladesh Premier League for Chittagong Abahani.

In search of an equaliser, forward Rakib Hossain played defender right-back Bishwanath Ghosh on the right flank and the right-back raced into the box before releasing a brilliant low cross for unmarked Morsalin, who completed formality to raise his international goal tally to three.  

Earlier, Afghanistan dominated the first half with the inclusion of their eight foreign-based player but they could hardly expose Bangladesh.

It was the charges of Javier Cabrera who came close to taking lead in the latter part of the first half when Rakib darted into the box to muster a powerful shot to the near post, only to be blocked by goalkeeper Faisal Ahmed Hamidi.

The send-offs of Bangladesh assistant coach Hasan Al Mamun and Afghanistan's head coach Abdullah Al Mutairi, centering on a foul, was also the highlight of the opening half.

Photo: Firoz Ahmed

After resumption on the rain-soaked ground, Bangladesh displayed a better show than Afghanistan and following the equaliser, the men in red and green pressed hard for the winner and came close with a couple of chances but Afghanistan defenders well-negotiated threats well to eventually share the honour.