Ctg Abahani up against spirited Young Elephants
With a comfortable victory against defending champions TC Sports in the opening match, hosts Chattogram Abahani are looking to confirm their semifinal berth when they square off against Young Elephants, the surprise package of the tournament, in today’s second match at the MA Aziz Stadium in Chattogram.
The match will get underway at 7:00pm.
Coach Maruful Haque is confident in his charges’ abilities as he is likely to field the same eleven but has utmost respect for Young Elephants, who stunned Mohun Bagan in their first match.
“We are prepared for tomorrow’s match. We have our plans for the game. Our target will be to confirm the semifinals with a win in this match,” Maruful said yesterday.
The Arambagh coach, who has been roped in by the hosts for this pre-season tournament, said he was surprised by the performance of the Southeast Asian team.
“Young Elephants are a very pacey side, who go on the counter-attack very quickly. Speed is a big weapon for them. They may not have foreign players but I thing that also helps them bond well and play with as a cohesive unit. I think they will be a tough prospect,” the coach said, adding that he feels Somxay Kheohanam, who scored two goals against Mohun Bagan, will one day become one of the best players in Asia.
Young Elephants, meanwhile, were boosted by the opening-match victory and were looking to cause another upset.
“We are boosted by the victory. The competitive level of this tournament is very high, so we will try to raise our level in the next game,” said the team’s coach V Selvaraj, who took charge a week ago.
The Singaporean was confident his team could continue to upset the applecart as his side do not have any pressure on them.
“We came with the youngest squad and without any foreign players. So, our expectation is zero. No one gave us a chance, but I can assure you we will continue to raise our level and hope we will get the support of the home crowd,” he added.
Meanwhile, TC Sports and Mohun Bagan will play each other in the first game of the day at 4:00pm, trying to stay alive in the competition. A defeat for either team will rule them out while a draw would keep the two sides hanging with slim chances.
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