Bhutan’s journey to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup ended with the defeat yesterday in Palestine. The Bhutanese football team was on the receiving end of a footballing lesson as they went down 10-0 to Palestine.
Playing against a side that has already beaten Bhutan in its home territory, the situation was already looking a daunting task. Bhutan’s nightmares became real when Palestine scored with their first meaningful attack.
Captain Abdallatif Albahdari was on the end of a corner to put his team one up in the third minute of the match. Two minutes later, Bhutan was two down, courtesy a thunderous strike from outside the box by Abdallah Jaber.
Palestine made light work of the Bhutanese defense when Tamer Seyam tucked in their third goal. Bhutanese players already looked dejected.
The fourth goal soon followed. Bhutanese defense looked to the linesman hoping for a goal kick while Sameh Maraaba was the right man in the right place. Palestine 4-0 up inside 30 minutes.
The Bhutanese tale of conceding goals late into the first half continued as Palestine scored two more goals before the halftime break. Resuming the second half at 6-0, the Bhutanese players did not do themselves any favor conceding two minutes into the second half.
Palestine scored their eighth, ninth and the tenth goal in quick succession. At the 70th minute mark and with 10 goals down, repeat of the disastrous match at Oman was looking imminent.
However, the defense held on and 10-0 is how it finished at the final whistle. Another disappointing result away from home, a result which the head coach was afraid might happen.
“I asked before in the pre-press conference about the situation if we are maybe even thinking of winning and at that time, I was already was afraid that the result could be like that but I couldn’t tell you,” said the head coach.
“So, it is a difficult as Bhutan’s coach because you are dealing with mountain people. And mountain people are small people, which make sense if you are living in the mountains but it doesn’t really make sense if you are playing international football at this level.”
In the other group match, Oman scored five past the Maldives to confirm their spot in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup. For Bhutan and the Maldives, they will be looking to salvage some pride in the remaining two group matches.
