Bangladesh: A farcical drubbing 
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| Bangladesh |
October 1, 2004 
The Daily Star, Bangladesh
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A 30-0 win does not come everyday especially if you are Bangladesh but even after such a groundbreaking scoreline, the players were far too embarrassed to celebrate their massacre of Afghanistan yesterday in the U-21 Challenge Cup invitational hockey.
For the record, the 30-0 thrashing at the Maulana Bhashani stadium was by far the biggest win-margin in international competitions for Bangladesh. The previous best was the 12-1 victory over Nepal in the 1997 SAF Games in Madras.
Afghanistan, who suffered a 17-0 hammering at the hands of Oman in their tournament opener on Thursday, were worse than novices. The men from the war-torn country seemed more pre-occupied with just having the feel of the sticks in their hands.
After going 4-0 down within 10 minutes, the Afghans threatened to leave the field protesting the fourth goal. Then in one minute of absolute farce, they just stood on the pitch seemingly in protest while Bangladesh forward Russel Mahmud Jimmy scored twice without facing any resistance.
When they eventually decided to continue, Jimmy went on to net eight times. Moksud Alam Habul notched five goals while Rahul and Mobarak managed three each. Dinar and Chayan got a brace each while seven others shared the remaining goals.
Throughout the match, Bangladesh's goaltender did not have to make a single save and the crowed even cheered an attempted attack by the Afghans.
The hosts, who beat Myanmar 3-0 in their first game on Thursday, led 17-0 at the break.
"I gave my players a 30-goal target and they have fulfilled it," said Bangladesh's Pakistani coach Qamar Ibrahim before he questioned the wisdom of inviting a side like Afghanistan.
"They don't have the standard to compete at this level. Even their officials are not aware of the rules in hockey. Playing against teams like Afghanistan will do nothing for Bangladesh."
When Bangladesh Hockey Federation general secretary Shamsul Bari was approached after the match, he appeared as embarrassed as his players and shied away from giving any comments.
In yesterday's other match at the BKSP, favourites India defeated Myanmar 7-0 with Gurinder Chandi and Savio Nayak scoring twice each.
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