Bangladesh beat Laos 1-0

Sports Desk: Bangladesh beat Laos 1-0 in the first leg of their first round qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup and 2023 Asian Cup at the New Lao National Stadium in Vientiane on Thursday.

Second-half substitute Rabiul Hasan scored the lone goal of the match.

The Arambagh Krira Shangha forward raceived a long-ball from skipper Jamal Bhuiyan and stepped past a Laos player before unleashing a fierce grounder from the edge of the box, beating the Laos goalkeeper at his near post.

Rabiul had also scored in Bangladesh's last international match against Cambodia in their 1-0 win in Phnom Penh in March this year.

The win would definitely work as a huge advantage in the final reckoning following the second leg, which will be held at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on June 11.

The winners over the two legs will qualify for the group stages of the joint qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup and 2023 Asian Cup while the losers will be all but devoid of AFC/FIFA-sanctioned competitive matches for the next four-year cycle.

risingbd/Dhaka/June 06, 2019/AKA