Quality foreigners make Fed Cup competitive
Ending the dominance of traditional powerhouses, the just-concluded Federation Cup produced a new champion, with big-budget Bashundhara Kings beating minnows Rahmatganj in an entertaining final on Sunday.
The season’s curtain-raising tournament had its fair share of upsets, with three-time champions Sheikh Jamal and big-spenders Sheikh Russel KC eliminated from the group stage. The other big teams such as 11-time champions Abahani, 10-time champions Mohammedan, Saif SC and Chattogram Abahani fell victim to either minnows Rahmatganj or promoted Bangladesh Police FC.
Those upsets reflected how competitive the 22-match tournament was, giving an indication of how competitive the upcoming Bangladesh Premier League could be.
The Federation Cup saw 51 goals scored, out of which 34 were by the foreign players. The number of goals was, however, 23 less than the season’s Federation Cup, but that was mostly due to the presence of quality foreign defenders and compact defence of the teams.
Coaches of different clubs admitted that the tournament was very tough and the standard of play increased due to the presence of quality foreign players, even at small clubs.
“The federation cup was overall a good tournament. Teams like Rahmatganj, Bangladesh Police, Mohammedan surprised other teams. Bashundhara were very consistent and deserved to win but Abahani were disappointing as we lost in the quarterfinals. We should have done better,” Abahani coach Mario Lemos said. “The League is going to be tougher. Every team got stronger, also this year we allowed to five foreigners. It’s going to be more challenging this time.”
“The Federation Cup was, as expected, competitive as the small teams played really well and did not any room to the big teams. The small teams are getting closer to the big teams in terms of strength,” said Chattogram Abahani coach Maruful Haque. “The standard of play has improved as all teams played very calculative football.”
“Every team, from small to big, tried to sign quality foreign players in centre-back, defensive midfield and attacking positions. Those players had good influence in maintaining tempo of the matches aside from the influence of coaches. That’s why the Federation Cup turned more competitive than the last season,” said Sheikh Russel KC coach Saiful Bari Titu.
However, Mohammedan coach Sean Lane was not prepared to judge the performance of the teams based on the Federation Cup only.
“I think it is difficult to judge the season just on the basis of the Federation cup performances. Many teams started training late and all teams were at different stages of fitness. I think the league will be closer than last season,” Lane said. “Mohammedan is in a rebuilding phase. We want to get a good start in the league and we certainly want to do better than last year.”
Lane, however, believes big-budget teams will eventually prevail. “Most of the new clubs performed well in the Fed Cup, but I still expect the big clubs with big budget to be on top of the league.”
Maruful also believes the minnows will lose out in the long run while the big clubs will remain in the title race.
“Management is a big factor in the league because small teams are eager to complete the league within a short period while their players are focused on avoiding relegation, but players of big teams stay focused on the title race,” explained the UEFA A licence holder.
Though Maruful believes new teams may emerge as title contenders, Titu feels the race will be confined to within the big teams who have previously won the title.
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