Bangladesh football team salvaged a 1-1 draw against Felda United FC from Malaysia in a Group-A match of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup 2016 held at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka this evening.

The first half ended with none of the sides managing to score. After half time, Malaysia XI took the lead with Mohammad Azman’s goal in the 55th minute of the game. Substitute forward Mithun Chowdhury scored the equalizer for Bangladesh side in the 76th minute of the match.

Bangladesh team would have moved on to the semis if they could have managed to win today’s match. The hosts, however, moved to the top of the group with four points, ahead of Nepal, also with four points, by a superior goal difference.

The Bangladesh side will take on Nepal in their next match of Group-A on January 16, Saturday, at 6:30pm local time.

Earlier on January 8, hosts Bangladesh made a winning start in the opening match of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup tournament by comprehensively beating Sri Lanka 4-2 at the Shamsul Huda Stadium in Jessore, a much needed victory for the hosts as they were under tremendous pressure ahead of the match after being humiliated and dumped from the group stages of the SAFF Suzuki Cup.

The Bangabandhu Cup or Bangabandhu Gold Cup is an international association football tournament organised by the Bangladesh Football Federation as a tribute to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. It was launched in 1996. This will be the fourth time the tournament has been held. Eight teams from Asian Football Confederation are participating in this year’s edition.