Palestine reach Bangabandhu Gold Cup final

Sports Desk: Palestine defeated Bangladesh by 2-0 in the second semifinal of the six-nation 5th Bangabandhu Gold Cup at the Birshreshtha Shaheed Ruhul Amin Stadium in Cox's Bazar on Wednesday to advance to the final of the tournament.

They will play final on Friday (Oct 12) at 6:30 pm at the country’s premier sports venue--Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka-- against Tajikistan, which made a final berth eliminating the Philippines also by 2-0 goals in the first semifinal on Tuesday.

Mohammed Balah and Sameh Maraabe scored for the Palestine one in each half.

Palestine went ahead as early as the eighth minute after Mohammed MM Balah headed in a coolly placed header after Musab Kl Battat whipped in a good cross from the right side. The first half ended 1-0 and Bangladesh created a few opportunities to equalize but could not quite execute properly. With time running out, Bangladesh played a more open game with Palestine getting plenty of opportunities to double their lead in the second half.

Finally substitute Sameh FM Maraaba slotted in a simple goal in stoppage time to double Palestine’s lead after IM Dabbagh headed down a long hopeful ball into his path.

Earlier, Palestine clinched the Group A title to reach the semis with all-win record beating Tajikistan 2-0 and holders Nepal 1-0 while the Philippines emerged Group B champions also with all win-run beating Laos 3-1 and Bangladesh 1-0.

Bangladesh managed a berth in the last four stage beating Laos 1-0 after conceding 0-1 defeat against the Philippines while Tajikistan also managed semifinal berth beating Nepal 2-0 and after suffering 0-2 defeat against favourite Palestine.


risingbd/Dhaka/Oct 10, 2018/Aminul/AI