New Delhi: Estegal High School from Afghanistan and Bangladesh Krida Siksha Protisthan(BKSP) sailed into the semifinals of the 57th Subroto Cup International Football Tournament at the Dr. Ambedkar Stadium here today.

In the first quarterfinal of the Sub-Junior Boys (under-14), BKSP scored a 1-0 facile win over Pinjabati High School from Manipur while the Kabul schoolboys scrapped past Utkramit High School from Jharkhand in the second with a 2-0 verdict.For the Kabul side, Ebadullah and Ali netted the goals while a 15th minute goal by Mohammad Habibur Rahman saw BKSP through.

In the first of the semifinal to be played on September 27, the two foreign school sides will clash with each other.

Both winners, who were known for their attacking games, were somewhat subdued on Tuesday as their main aim was to keep their citadels from falling. That was evident from the very early stages as the teams adopted a clear cut now-defend-now-attack mode, often indulging in unnecessary long passes and expecting their rivals to commit mistakes.

From their point of view it was understandable. The strikers from Kabul had done a marvelous job so far making deep inroads into the rival territory but were kept at bay for a long period as a strong Jharkhand defense thwarted them for a long time. But in the process to fortify their defense, Utkramit had almost forgotten the basics of keeping the rivals on their toes, often attackingor at least launching acounter-attack. In a way, their attitude of safety-first policy only helped the Afghan cause as they, after scoring their goal, went into shell and fortified their goal to keep Jharkhand strikers out of harm’s way.

After Ebadullah opened account for Estegal in the very second minute of the match, they had to wait until the 47th minute for their second goal. Both goals came because of defense lapses as Jhakhand boys seemed clueless to stop the advancing Kabul strikers.

But what surprised one was the way BKSP, after going into lead in the 15th minute, failed to press home the advantage. No doubt, credit must be given to Pinjabati boys who, without losing heart after conceding the goal, kept a tight leash on the Savar sports hostel boys from across the border even as they tried to pierce through BKSP defense. But the Bangla defense, manned bycomprising Abdul Kader, Mohammad RobilAlam, Rabibul and Karim, was too strong to find any hole.

Unfortunately, the home teams were unimpressive on the day and they have to blame themselves for their early exit from the tournament. Perhaps, it was something to do with the reputation of the two foreign outfits which they gained through hard play with the sole motive of making a steady progress.
Until the semifinals next Tuesday, the two teams will rest and assess their likely opponent’s strengths and weakness before final on September 29.

But from tomorrow both the Ambedkar Stadium and NWC grounds with go abuzz with the remaining four pool matches.