Bangladesh Premier League champions Dhaka Abahani Limited and Maldivian champions Maziya SRC are keen to do well as they face each other today in the group E match of AFC Cup at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.
The battle between two SAAF clubs kick-offs at 6:10 pm on Tuesday.
In the pre-match press briefing at the BFF House on Monday, both the coaches, Marjan
Sekulovski of Maziya and Drago Mamic of Abahani spoke in a similar tone vowing to display their best and leave the ground on a winning note.
Serbian Marjan Sekulovski focused on the teamwork. “We are well prepared for this important fixture and also quite well aware and have good knowledge of Dhaka Abahani. I trust my players and believe they will play to their true potentials.
“We have already played three official matches in domestic league and came out winners all three outings. We know how to play tomorrow and hopefully my boys will be delivering their best.”
“We have 7 to 8 national players and we have also players from U-23 team along with four foreign players. I think Dhaka Abahani were better team than TC Sports. Abahani created some five to six chances and TC Sports got one chance.
“I hope Tomorrow’s match will be different but I believe if the boys give their best, I am
sure, we can get the result.
His counterpart Drago Mamic was ready for the challenge. “Tomorrow match is very important for us because AFC competition is very high in Asia. For Bangladesh, we will give our best to achieve good result and stay in the track to pass the remaining hurdles.
The players are prepared mentally, we have collected some players from others and now I will get one match to see them, our finishers will be sharper than the ones of Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup, I hope to put a good show and win the match “
Asian Football Confederation (AFC) organizes this tournament every year comprising of the latest league winners of every Asian nation.
In this edition of the tournament, 36 clubs have been divided into 9 groups, each consisting of 4 teams.
The teams have been divided into 5 zones: West, Central, South, East and ASEAN.
Among the 9 groups, 6 are from West and ASEAN zone combined and the other three zones have one group each.
Dhaka Abahani Limited has been included in E Group of South Asia Zone.
The other teams in this group are JSW Bengaluru FC (India), Mohun Bagan AC (India) and Maziya Sports and Recreation Club (Maldives).
In the group phase, each team will play every other team in home and away basis in league format. At the end of the group phase, the ‘group champion’ team will then compete in the inter-zonal semi-final.
