Bangladesh-Macao
 
I don’t have to tell those of you who have been following the Asian Football Confederation preliminary qualification rounds what was at stake here.  Having defeated Cambodia and lost to Myanmar, Bangladesh needed a resounding victory over Macao to beat out Maldives, by goal differential, for a place in the next round.   The assistant coach of the Bangladesh national team, who I sat next on my flight to Nepal, invited me to the game as his guest, and a friend and I had choice seats in the end zone of the stadium.  These were not exactly skyboxes, but the amenities were no different.  Hawkers came by periodically, selling bottled water, roasted peanuts in the shell, and cigarettes by the piece.  General admission tickets went for 30 cents, while the VIP tickets had a face value of $1.30.  There were even scalpers in front of the stadium.  An announced crowd of 5000 fit comfortably into the 40,000 seat Bangobondhu Stadium.  After a slow start, Bangladesh won comfortably, 3-0, to secure a spot in the next round.  lk
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
        View from the VIP section
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                        We saw a lot of people carried off in stretchers.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                
                                The crowd was sparse, but enthusiastic.
 
 
Saturday, May 16, 2009