Bangladesh 2 - 1 United Arab Emirates (393332859)

Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 21603 to Hunter's Pit. Alexandre Favennec was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Finn Stadlhofer and Kim J. Kihlgren. A 5-5-0 alignment was the formation of choice for Bangladesh. The following players took the field: Ramiz - Ahmed, Kanchon, Muhammad, Jamal, Bashar - Khaled, Shakil, Roshan, Raihan, Afridi -.

United Arab Emirates decided to use a 4-4-2 set up. They fielded: Taresh - Okail, Al-Mazrooi, Hosseini Dehnavi, Taresh - Alaabdi, Al-Hashimi, Al-Murhaib, Galadar - Al-Qubaisi, Al-Olaki.

Using their counter-attacking abilities was the strategy of choice for United Arab Emirates. After 3 minutes, the defensive line of Bangladesh created a counterattack through the middle that gave B. Afridi a good look at the goal, but his shot glanced harmlessly off the crossbar. Having been awarded a free kick in an awkward position after 21 minutes, Bangladesh did not go for a shot but instead fired the ball hard into the 6 yard box. After a brief tussle with his marker, A. Muhammad was able to power the ball past the keeper to make the score 1 - 0. 40 minutes in, United Arab Emirates's M. Taresh received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. Halftime score was 1 - 0. United Arab Emirates had most of the ball, with 55 percent of possession.

Unhappy with the result so far in the game, the United Arab Emirates manager used a brief break in play after 46 minutes to give the players new directives. The crowd was silenced 55 minutes into the match as the visiting team's H. Alaabdi came in from the left, levelling the score to 1 - 1. After 59 minutes, H. Kanchon sent the corner kick right to S. Bashar who headed it sharply past the keeper. 2 - 1! The coach of Bangladesh was happy with the game so far, but still wanted to change the line up. After 67 minutes, M. Kabir came on for K. Khaled. With the clock showing 67 minutes played, a great pass from the defensive line of Bangladesh resulted in a counterattack that was smoothly brought under control by A. Muhammad in the centre of the opposition's penalty area, but his finish went high. Always quick on his feet, United Arab Emirates's H. Alaabdi sped down the field after 73 minutes, but his pass to H. Okail was just a bit too far ahead for him to get a good shot off. M. Taresh came close to levelling the score 79 minutes into the game, as he was set up with a through ball coming in from the left, but his shot hit the post. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave A. Shakil from Bangladesh a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 81 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! A. Shakil left the field with a smile on his face as he was substituted 84 minutes into the game, as his team was in the lead. A. Hasan was the replacement. A. Muhammad wanted to play on, but the Bangladesh coach had other ideas, and he was replaced 84 minutes into the game by A. Sadeq. Although the whole team were struggling to impress, United Arab Emirates's D. Taresh was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 89 minutes. M. Al-Falahi was given a chance to change things around. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by United Arab Emirates, with 51 percent of the ball.

The most dominating Bangladesh player was without a doubt S. Bashar. On the other hand, A. Sadeq's play was disheartening. Most important United Arab Emirates player was M. Al-Falahi. However, M. Al-Olaki made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 2 - 1.