Sk Jamal, I'Park face off today
Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club want to end a fruitful year on a good note as they take on South Korean top-tier outfit Busan I'Park in a FIFA International Friendly (Category-II) match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium today.
Apart from winning their second professional football league title, the Dhanmondi giants won the prestigious King's Cup in Bhutan and became runners-up in the IFA Shield in Kolkata earlier this year. Having entertained the football fanatics in India and Bhutan, Sheikh Jamal are now eager to entertain the home crowd in the last match of the calendar year.
“This match is important to us for two reasons. Since the King's Cup was played in Bhutan, our spectators could not watch the matches in the stadium. So we would like to entertain our home crowd through this match,” said Sheikh Jamal coach Maruful Haque at the official press conference at the Bangladesh Football Federation House yesterday.
“Since most of the players of the Sheikh Jamal team also feature for the national team, we want the players to learn from the mistakes they made in the recent match against Japan Under-21s and prove that they have rectified those errors,” added Maruful.
The veteran coach claimed he would be employing his regular formation, the 4-3-3, and would want his forwards to hold the ball as much as possible to cut down on the danger of being caught on the break by the speedy and young Busan I'Park players.
This Busan team, four-time K League champions and one-time AFC Champions League winners, have come here without their foreign recruits and a number of senior players, so as to give the young players in their squad a chance to show their mettle during this pre-season friendly.
“We have many young players in the squad who can learn a lot from this fixture. However, we would like to entertain the crowd as much as possible by playing an attacking brand of football,” said Busan's head coach Yoon Sung-hyu.
“We have heard that Sheikh Jamal are a good side and we have seen video footage of some of their matches. I believe it will be a very good match,” added the 52-year-old coach.
Although this Korean team doesn't boast any of the national team players, they provided enough evidence during the 40-minute training session at the match venue yesterday to show they have enough quality in their ranks to trouble Sheikh Jamal.
However Sheikh Jamal defender Nasiruddin Chowdhury, who has been re-appointed the team's captain recently, said they are prepared for the challenge.
“Sheikh Jamal's success abroad has earned the reputation that Bangladesh can play good football. We are prepared for the challenge from Busan I'Park,” announced the versatile player.
Indeed, Sheikh Jamal's success is almost synonymous with that of Bangladesh national team's, as the club's players form the core of the national team. So while this is a fixture between two top clubs of two countries, it is also a battle of two football cultures.
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