This is the first time Bangladesh is playing at any level of hockey in the World Cup. The Bangladesh U-21 hockey team is giving a great performance by participating in the world stage for the first time. Although they did not win in the group stage, the red-green representatives defeated Oman 13-0 in the placement match. Joy-Amirul also defeated the powerful South Korea in the next match. And that has created an opportunity for Bangladesh to win a trophy.
Bangladesh will play against Austria on the turf on Monday (December 8) in the 17th placement match. If the red-green representatives win this match, they will get the 17th place in the 24-team World Cup. In addition, they will also get a trophy called the ‘Challengers Cup’ among the last 8 teams. It is undoubtedly a matter of pride for Bangladesh to get a trophy in the Hockey World Cup for the first time.
The Bangladesh team is currently in Madurai, India. There, they will take the field against Austria at 5 pm on Monday. If they win this match, they will get the trophy.
Amirul Islam is performing incredibly well in the World Cup. He has scored hat-tricks in four of his five matches and is currently the top scorer with 15 goals.
Bangladesh lost 5-3 to Australia in their first match of the World Cup. All three goals in that match were scored by Amirul. He scored a hat-trick in the next match against South Korea. Bangladesh drew the match 3-3. Then, in the last match of the group stage, Bangladesh fought again against France and lost 3-2.
This time, Amirul wants to return home by winning the last match. He also wants to prove himself against Austria. He said that their goal was to be at least among the top 16. Since that was not possible, they now want to be 17th.
Bangladesh will create another new history if they win against Austria. The team is already in a good mood after defeating South Korea, and they will play against Austria tomorrow with that confidence. Apart from that, Austria (21) is five places behind Korea (16) in the FIS rankings. Bangladesh is 29th there.
It has been two years since there has been a league in Bangladesh. The opportunity to practice with Dutch coach Siegfried Aikman has only been for 3-4 months. Still, the youngsters have taken themselves to another level in India. Legendary former hockey player Rafiqul Islam Kamal believes that they should be rewarded after such success.
