Cambodia defy Bangladesh

Substitute Keo Kosal's 90th minute equaliser denied Bangladesh from a certain win in the Nehru Cup as they drew 1-1 with Cambodia at the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi yesterday.

The Cambodian striker, who almost scored level in the 82nd minute but saw his drive from 20 yards curl just out of the sidebar, stabbed the ball home from eight yards after the tired Bangladesh backline failed to stop a darting low cross by another substitute Sam Al Nesa from the right flank.

Abul Hossain had given Bangladesh a deserved lead on the half hour when his glancing header on a corner by Alfaz Ahmed gave Cambodian goalkeeper Oum Veasna no chance.

Bangladesh's Indian coach Syed Nayeemuddin made one change in the line-up from the sides that lost 2-0 to Syria and 1-0 to India by bringing in veteran Alfaz for Robin.

The striking duo, Alfaz and Emily, generated enough attacks but Bangladesh failed to capitalise on their superior ball possession.

Their first real chance came after 15 minutes when Emily played superb overhead pass for Alfaz who miskicked under pressure from a defender as Veasnapicke dup the ball comfortably.

Abul, adjudged man-of-the-match, then released Emily with a through from the midfield seven minutes later but the striker's first touch took the ball out of his control and allowed Veasna to clear for a corner.

Ariful, whose defensive errors cost Bangladesh three goals in the tournament in the first two games, then forced a superb save when his 40-yard lob was palmed over for a corner by Veasna.

The resulting corner put Bangladesh ahead as Abul, unmarked by the rival defence, put a free header into the far corner.

Veasna fumbled on two occasions in the last five minutes before the break but Bangladeshi forwards failed to take the rebounds.

Playing their third match inside five days, Bangladeshi booters showed tired legs immediately after the interval but Cambodia, who lost 4-3 to Kyrgyzstan in their opener, hardly threatened to score despite good runs on the break.

Bangladesh again picked up the tempo and Ariful's another long-range effort was spectacularly punched out by Veasna in the 71st minute.

Sam El Nasa took the first shot on the rival goal but Biplab was not disturbed at all but he had little to do when Kosal put a right-footer into the far corner on the brink of the final whistle.

Nayeemuddin admitted after the match that he was disappointed not to win the game.

"We made one mistake and paid for it. The defenders should have covered after going up but they failed. Anyway, I am proud of my players because they have played tremendously well," said Nayeem, whose boys take on Kyrgyzstan in their last match tomorrow.

"The players came ere just after a long league and here also, they are playing with the shortest possible gap," he added.

Syria and hosts India, who meet today, lead the round-robin league with six points after two outings each.

Kyrgyzstan have three points while Bangladesh, the only team to have played three games, and Cambodia are bottom of the table with one point each.

The top two teams will meet in the August 29 final.

BANGLADESH TEAM: Biplab, Ariful, Rajani, Nazrul, Waly, Zahid, Arman Aziz, Abul, Titu, Emily, Alfaz (Robin, 56 and Ujjal, 82).

SYRIA-KYRGYZSTAN
AFP adds: Favourites Syria brushed aside Kyrgyzstan 4-1 on Tuesday to record their second successive win in the five-nation meet.

Maher El Sayed put Syria ahead in the seventh minute, but Kyrgyzstan were lucky to draw level six minutes later when Syrian defender Ali Dyeb lobbed the ball into his own goal while trying to clear.

Zyad Chaabo shot Syria ahead again a minute before halftime and the emphatic victory was sealed by two second-half goals from Mohammed Alzeno in the 70th minute and Abraheim Al-Hasan in the 82nd.