Abahani drawn against April 25

Bangladesh Premier League champions Abahani will play against North Korea’s April 25 Sports Club in the inter-zone play-off semifinals of the AFC Cup as the draw was held at the headquarters of Asian Football Confederation in Malaysia yesterday.

Abahani will host April 25 SC on August 21 in Dhaka before travelling to Pyongyang to play the away match on August 28. The North Korean side played the inter-zone final in the last edition of the AFC Cup where they lost to Turkmenistan’s Altyn Asyr on away goals despite having an aggregate 3-3 draw over two legs.

Altyn Asyr will play other inter-zone play-off semifinal against ASEAN zone champions -- either Becamex Binh Duong or Hanoi FC, who are scheduled to lock horns on July 31 and August 7.

The winners of two inter-zone semifinals will play the inter-zone final on September 25 and October 2.

“We have chance but we take it game by game, prepare the team for a tough match and we must be tactically perfect against them,” Abahani coach Mario Lemos said regarding the match against the North Korean outfit.

“I have some idea [about April 25 SC]; I watched them play last season in the AFC Cup. This season they won five out of six matches. They are a strong side with disciplined, aggressive and fast players up front,” Mario opined.

Abahani could not use their four foreign recruits in last three matches with only two foreigners playing in the last match against Minerva Punjab, but they had the last laugh in all three matches. According to the tournament bylaws, Abahani have a chance of adding at least five players before the play-off semifinals to replace three injured players -- Tapu Barman, Atiqur Rahman Fahad and Wellington Priori.  

“At the moment I’m not sure if we can register new players, but I will meet the team manager and then we will decide,” said Lemos.