Match of the Day ... in Dhaka

On Sunday, Manchester United take on Liverpool in one of the Premier League highlights of the season, but for Bangladesh football fans (of whom there are several million), their very own Clash of the Titans took place on Friday evening. When Abahani, the league leaders, took on Mohammadan Sporting Club, in third place, it was a contest that could have decided the destiny of the 2009-10 title. And it was all played out at the country’s former home of cricket, the Bangabandhu Stadium in Dhaka.

Football in Bangladesh has a long and proud heritage, and for many years it was, by some distance, the most popular sport in the country. Whereas cricket was seen as an expensive and time-consuming pastime, and one that harked back to a bygone era, football was cheap, simple, and appealed to the masses, not least during the Independence struggle in 1971, when the national team, exiled to India, became one of the first bodies to popularise the country’s green-and-red flag.

Subsequently that passion was channelled into the Bangladesh League, and the rivalry between Mohammadan and Abahani, the two biggest clubs in Dhaka, became as intense as any local derby you’d care to mention. However, the atmosphere in Friday’s latest encounter lacked a certain sizzle. Where once a sell-out would have been guaranteed, now there were fewer than 6000 people turning out for a fixture that was being broadcast live on national TV. As one local journalist put it: “Cricket eats everything”.

All the same, it was an entertaining and high-octane encounter, as you’d expect from the only two teams still unbeaten in the league this year. Abahani, the defending champions, had won 11 out of 11 in 2009-10, but they were the happiest with a 0-0 draw, after surviving three clear-cut chances –all from the striker, Bokula Olalikan, who hit the crossbar in the fifth minute, had another shot cleared off the line in the final 20, and also skewed an ambitious scissor-kick past the post.

Abahani, for their part, missed a golden opportunity to snatch the spoils, and extend their lead over Mohammadan to 10 points, when Awudu Ibrahim’s through-ball was blasted high and wide by an off-balance Sheriff Deen Mohammad. It just so happened that many of the supporters on both sides were busy praying at that moment. The contents of those prayers would have made very interesting reading indeed.

The quality of the contest was comparable with the last football match I witnessed live, Leyton Orient v Carlisle back in 2008, which is to say it was feisty, committed, but lacking perhaps a touch of panache. But then again, given that (on a pro-rata scale) your average Premier League star might have featured for roughly ten seconds before his wage-bill became too much, the B-League wasn’t really designed with pampered primadonnas in mind.

But at least the stadium looked good for the TV cameras, because the shabby old ground that hosted England’s cricketers on their last visit in 2003 has undergone a serious facelift in recent years. For starters, it’s had several licks of paint, with bright yellow now the signature colour instead of dank grey, and where cricket was once the venue’s co-habitee, now athletics has made its indelible mark, with a state-of-the-art running track circling the perimeter, and a purpose-built press-box sitting parallel to the 100m straight.

Most of the renovations were made in time for the recent South Asian Games, the subcontinent’s equivalent of the Olympics, and the impact of hosting such a high-profile event has been felt all around the neighbourhood. A brand-new handball arena has been erected right next to the main gate, with an indoor complex for badminton and boxing a few hundred metres down the road. Even the old open-air swimming pool on the opposite flank has been given a bit of a touch-up, although its waters still look off-puttingly murky, except in the brightest of midday sunshine.

And yet, incredibly, there’s another phase of rebuilding lurking around the corner, because in just under a year’s time, the 2011 World Cup comes to town, and despite having been out of service as a cricket venue since 2005, the Bangabandhu has been chosen to host the opening ceremony. Ever a political punchbag, it has been decreed that the majority of the ground's existing stands will be torn down and started over, at a cost that soars into the millions in any currency.

But unlike the Trelawny Stadium in Jamaica, which has served no recognisable purpose since being built to provide what was arguably the high point of the 2007 World Cup, at least the Bangabandhu remains a focal point for Bangladesh sport. It’s just a pity that the crowds aren’t quite what they used to be.