Bashundhara Kings make continental debut today
Bangladesh Premier League champions Bashundhara Kings are looking forward to making their maiden AFC Cup campaign a memorable one as they take on TC Sports Club of Maldives in Group E opener at the Bangabandhu National Stadium today.
The match will kick off at 3:30pm.
Bashundhara Kings are the fifth Bangladeshi outfit to play in the second-tier club competition of Asia, with six-time champions Abahani making the farthest by reaching the knockout stages last season in their third appearance. Three-time league champions Sheikh Jamal finished bottom of their group in 2016 while Sheikh Russel KC were twice knocked out of the pre-qualifying stage in 2015 and 2017 and Saif SC suffered the same fate in 2018.
Bashundhara Kings, who will play directly in the group stage as Bangladesh Premier League champions, clinched the Federation Cup earlier this year but their league performance has not been the best as they suffered a 1-0 defeat against Mohammedan in their last match on Saturday.
They are, however, looking forward to making a good start against TC Sports Club, a club that beat Saif SC twice in 2018 apart from lifting the title of Sheikh Kamal International Club tournament in Chattogram in 2017.
"Our mentality is to win every match we play; our mentality is to win every tournament we participate in, and our mentality is also same here in AFC Cup," Bashundhara Kings coach Oscar Bruzon told reporters at a pre-match conference yesterday.
Brazilian marksman Marcos Vinicius and local forward Matin Mia made a deadly attacking pair last season, sharing 30 goals in the league. However, in absence of Vinicius, who has been released by the club, and Matin, out with injury, Bashundhara Kings are struggling to score despite creating chances.
"(If you call) Winning the Federation Cup and losing one game only in 2020 tough time, it shows the expectation surrounding our team. You can't expect a team win week after week. Last year, Marcos and Matin scored 30 goals and we are missing them inside the box. Daniel Colindres is an excellent player but he is not a pure No. 9. We have very good players up front but we need to improve our finishing skills," said Bruzon.
However, the big motivation for Bashundhara Kings is having former Argentina international Hernan Barcos, who is set to make his debut in this match. The veteran striker, according to the coach, has been doing well in training sessions.
"We are not on our best in the league but it is AFC Cup and the team is absolutely balanced. We will see big difference tomorrow. The problem of converting chances we are having recently will be solved. Hopefully we have our best team tomorrow," said an optimistic Bruzon, who has four foreign players – Colindres, Barcos, Bakhtiyar Duyshobekov and Nicolas Delmonte at his disposal.
TC Sports Club coach Mohamed Shazly feels his side have an equal chance to win the fixture.
"We know Bashundhara Kings are very strong and they have an advantage of having good foreign players. We know about him (Barcos) and we love to play against good and great players. Not only Barcos, Bashundhara have other good players too," Shazly said.
"TC Sports have a team with experienced players including five national players and also have good foreign players. Even though Ali Ashfaq is a local player, I rate him as a foreign player. For me, my team is good," warned Shazly, whose side came to Dhaka following preparation in Qatar.