A true David v Goliath encounter?

While both Bashundhara Kings and Rahmatganj MFS will be looking for their first Federation Cup title when they face off in the final at the Bangabandhu National Stadium today, it is quite a surprise that the Kings, the beaten finalists of last season, are playing a team who were rank outsiders before the start of the tournament.

The Old Dhaka based outfit had never made it to the final of any top-tier competition in their 87-year history. They had just about avoided the drop from the Bangladesh Premier League by two points last season. But here they are, standing toe-to-toe against Bangladesh football’s new powerhouse, who had won two titles last season and narrowly missed out on another.

But since this is only a two-week tournament, with the demands of a long series of matches of a league not in the equation, surprises are quite commonplace in the Federation Cup. In fact this edition of the curtain-raising tournament has been full of surprising results right from the beginning, with all six former champions being eliminated from the race. The 21 matches up to the final has seen exciting matches, close competition and valuable contributions from foreign players, especially the players from the Central Asian region.

Bashundhara Kings has not had the best of starts to the campaign, moving into the last eight with a victory and a defeat. They had a tough time getting rid of Muktijoddha Sangsad in a tiebreak win in the quarterfinals before a straightforward victory over Bangladesh Police in the semifinals.

Rahmatganj, on the other hand, had only squeezed into the quarterfinals with two draws, but the Old Dhaka outfit caused the biggest upset by knocking out defending champions Abahani in a thrilling tie-breaker in the last-eight battle. And then they eliminated Mohammedan, the second-most successful team in this competition after Abahani, with a single-goal win in the semifinals. 

The two teams, from a strategic point of view, are quite polar opposites of each other. Bashundhara Kings, blessed with a number of quality attacking options, favour all-out attack contrary to the pragmatism of Rahmatganj, who have thrived on compact defending and disciplined attacks.

As the two teams stand on the verge of history, Bashundhara Kings coach Oscar Bruzon feels that a defeat is not an option for his star-studded side, who boast eight national team players along with some quality foreign players.

“If we don’t win the final, this [semifinal win] will be nothing. We are here to win the final, not to play the final,” the Spaniard told the media after his side’s 3-0 win over Police on Thursday.

The veteran coach praised his opposition coach, calling him the main man behind their run to the final and warned his players against complacency.

“If we think Rahmatganj will be an easy game for us, we start to lose the game. The key point for us is to start strong and score in the first half,” Bruzon added.

Rahmatganj coach Syed Golam Jilani showed respect to his opposition, but was confident in the ability of his charges. “Since this is the final, the title is the only thought. Bashundhara Kinga are a big team, but on the pitch there is no such thing as a big or small team. We will try out best to win it,” Jilani said.

The match will kick off at 4:00pm, with Bangla TV telecasting live from the venue.