Winless and goalless, Bangladesh's Asian Games campaign ends in a draw with Myanmar

Bangladesh ended their Asian Games campaign without a win, held to a 0-0 draw by Myanmar in their final Group F match of the women’s football discipline at the Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan on Monday.

The draw against the 55th-ranked Myanmar leaves Bangladesh bottom of the four-team group on one point, having lost 10-0 to North Korea and 6-0 to South Korea in their opening two matches.

Bangladesh finished behind Myanmar in the group despite matching them on points, owing to an inferior goal difference, having conceded 16 to Myanmar's 13.

With the result, Bangladesh are also eliminated from the group-stage while Myanmar stay in the running to qualify for the next stage as one of the two best third-placed teams across the tournament's three groups.

Bangladesh coach Peter Butler had earlier singled out the match against Myanmar as their best chance of winning a match in the Asian Games.

The confidence stemmed from Ritu Porna Chakma and Co’s 2-1 win over Myanmar in last year’s AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualifier.

But on Monday, for the third straight match, Butler's side failed to score or place a shot on target.

Still, Butler said he was pleased with how the match panned out.

“I was super pleased with the girls today. I thought they did extremely well. We got a lot of young girls… I thought we looked a more comfortable group at that level,” he said.

“They are hovering around the 50 mark [55th] where we are just over 100 [107th]. I thought we played some really good football at times and we looked organized. I thought defensively we looked solid and sound and we played a really high line.

“A draw is probably a fair reflection of the game. I'm just really pleased with the girls that we finished on a positive note. I asked for a positive performance irrespective of the outcome of the result and they gave us that,’ he added.

Myanmar, on the other hand, had eight shots, two on target, and held 52% of the possession, but could not find a breakthrough against a resolute Bangladesh defence.

Butler, whose contract with the BFF will run out in December, reiterated how Bangladesh are still lagging behind the highest tier.

“Tough learning against two really, really tough teams. … To reiterate, we are not at that level.

“I think a lot of people don't take into consideration that we are the youngest team in this tournament. We're the youngest team. We're the lowest-ranked team.”