The team experienced internal conflict going into the 1978 Asian games in Bangkok, as the captaincy was stripped of the senior most player Monwar Hossain Nannu of Abahani and handed over to Shahidur Rahman Shantoo from Mohammedan SC, seven players from Abahani including Nannu quit the team in protest. The much depleted Bangladesh team struggled in the tournament losing to both Malaysia and India. Following this incident, the federation attempted to pick captains outside the two Dhaka teams for the next few years. In March 1979, the 1980 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers began on home soil and surprisingly considering that this was their first time taking part in a qualifying tournament, Bangladesh guided by local trainer Anwar Hossain, opened their campaign with draws against Afghanistan and Qatar. The team then went on to claim only their second ever victory by defeating the Afghans 3–2, which was eventually enough for them to qualify for the main event. The 1980 AFC Asian Cup was held in September in Kuwait, and Bangladesh were grouped with defending champions Iran as well as North Korea, Syria and China. The team now coached by Abdur Rahim, opened the tournament respectably with a narrow 3–2 defeat against North Korea. Their goals came from Kazi Salahuddin and Ashrafuddin Chunnu. They also held on well against Syria, losing 0–1. However, the next couple of games saw Bangladesh being embarrassed 7–0 and 6–0 respectively, by Iran and China, finishing the tournament bottom of their table. Bangladesh continued their continental exploits, as a goal from Badal Roy against Malaysia at the 1982 Asian Games, gave the team their first ever win in Asia's biggest stage at the time. Despite of all their early success, the team would see a slump in form, failing to qualify for the 1984 AFC Asian Cup and also endured a painful defeat to Nepal in the 1984 South Asian Games final. Rise and Fall (1985–2002) In 1985, Bangladesh took part in the 1986 World Cup qualifiers, and were grouped along with India, Indonesia and Thailand. The country's first ever win at the qualifiers came against Indonesia. The game was held at the Bangladesh Army Stadium, and the under-pressure home team had overturned a single goal deficit through Kaiser Hamid and Ashrafuddin Chunnu. They followed up the Indonesia result by edging past Thailand 1–0 in the next game. Nonetheless, the team finished bottom of the group, behind