Nedo-boosted Abahani approach Valencia

With the in-form Dorielton Gomes sidelined following a groin injury, Abahani would be banking on Nedo Turkovic in the AFC Cup play-off match against Maldives' Club Valencia on Tuesday in Sylhet.

However, Valencia, who arrived into the AFC Cup play-off stage after beating Bhutan's Paro FC 2-1 in Male, are not certain to come to Bangladesh due to financial constraints.

"I've heard unofficially that they [Club Valencia] are not coming due to the financial crisis but there is no official announcement, so we are taking our preparation to play the match," informed Abahani manager Satyajit Das Rupu yesterday.

 If Club Valencia end up giving a walkover, then Abahani will advance in the competition to play the winners between Blue Star of Sri Lanka and ATK Mohun Bagan of India on April 19.

Otherwise, Abahani would be heading into the game without their star player Dorielton, who already tallied seven goals in the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) after playing a key role in making the Sky Blues champions in the Federation Cup and the Independence Cup by scoring four goals in both the tournaments. Nevertheless, they managed to rope in Nedo from Swadhinata KS to fill the Brazilian's void for their crucial AFC Cup fixture.

Nedo, six feet and three inches tall, is perhaps the biggest striker in this BPL season and the Bosnian forward had netted four goals for his BPL side Swadhinata, currently dwelling at the bottom of the league table.

"Nedo is going to replace him [Dorielton]. He is big and a box player. We have to give him the ball and hope he can help us," Abahani coach Mario Lemos evaluated his new recruit, who began training with the Sky Blues yesterday.

"Nedo has not played with Abahani before but from what we have seen, he will be helpful for us if our players can support him during the play," Abahani manager told The Daily Star yesterday.

Rupu further added that Abahani would succeed if they can play their natural game against Valencia.

"Valencia is a very technical team. They like to play a passing game and love to control the game. Their Spanish players have the tendency to feed the forwards, so we can't give them any space," Lemos told The Daily Star about his upcoming opponents, who were scheduled to land in Dhaka last night and fly to Sylhet this morning.

Lemos is optimistic about overcoming the Maldivian hurdle.

"I'm confident of advancing to the next level because we are playing at home, and I think we have a good chance to go through but it won't be easy. We have to stay very disciplined and focused during the match," Lemos said.