Current B. League champions Abahani will play the Sri Lankan Army team in the opening game of the AFC President's Cup Group-B Qualifiers today at the Bangabandhu National Stadium (BNS).
The game starts at 6 pm local time and will be broadcasted live by the state-owned Bangladesh Television (BTV). Ashgabat Football Club from Turkmenistan is the other participating team in this tournament.
Abahani team manager Satyajit Das Rupu and head coach Amalesh Sen is confident that their side will do well as they had a preparation time of nearly two months.
"We have prepared well for this meet and expect our boys to do well. When preparing for this challenge we took all aspects into consideration, which included acquiring videotapes of our opposition and assessing their strengths and weaknesses. Unfortunately, AFC gave us the wrong videotape for the Sri Lanka Army team but we have had a fairly good look at Ashgabat," said Rupu.
Coach Amalesh has not been keeping well off late as he recently had an eye surgery and was suffering from jaundice but asserted that it will not have a bearing on the team's performance.
"The team has been in training for the last few weeks and there has not been any interruptions, although I was unwell for a while the assistant coach and Rupu has filled in the role and made sure the practice went well. Our main striker Zahid Hossain Emily is fully fit and available to play. Yesterday he got hit on the ankle but it's a minor concern and that shouldn't prevent him from playing," informed Amalesh.
Kazi Nazrul Islam who will be leading the sky blues in this prestigious meet is hopeful of repeating their B. League magic and winning the two matches viewing them as a semifinal and a final.
Abahani will be fielding two foreign players; Samad and Ibrahim from Ghana.
Opponents Sri Lankan Army seemed excited to be participating in this contest and are optimistic of their chances while stating their belief that Abahani were still the favourites. "We are excited to be playing alongside two quality clubs and believe that we can become the champions and qualify for the final round. Our team won the championships back home in 2008 and we have a three-month preparation behind us so I am optimistic about our chances. If I am to assess the strengths and weaknesses of my opposition I would say Abahani are the favourites in the tournament," said head coach of the Lankan Army Major S.Pathmanathan.
Ashgabat FC team manager Sahatov Nurgeldy felt that his team are strong contenders to triumph in the tournament as they have eight national players in the side and have been champions of Turkmenistan's top football league for the last two years.
Ashgabat play their first match against Sri Lanka Army on Thursday.
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