Titu to guide Abahani
Abahani appointed Saiful Bari Titu as their coach for the AFC Cup group stage, which gets underway in March.
Bangladesh Premier League champions Abahani have been placed in Group E along with I-League champions Aizawl FC, Maldives Premier League champions New Radiant and the playoff winners between TC Sports Club of Maldives and Bengaluru FC of India. The six-time professional league champions will start their second AFC Cup campaign with the game against New Radiant on March 7 in Dhaka.
“Saiful Bari Titu was given the responsibility to guide Abahani in AFC Cup last night [Monday]. As a local coach, Titu knows about the local players while it might have been difficult had we appointed a foreign coach due to shortage of time,” Abahani manager Satyajit Das Rupu said, explaining the appointment of Titu, who last coached Chittagong Abahani before being terminated in the latter part of the league.
Titu, an AFC A licensed coach, is delighted to get the opportunity to guide one of the country's most successful clubs in the AFC Cup.
“AFC Cup is big platform and this type of opportunity does not often come for a coach. Abahani are a traditional powerhouse of the country and it is a challenge to work with them. It is a big responsibility for me to guide Abahani in the AFC Cup,” said Titu, who has the experience of guiding the national team as well.
Titu also believes that forming a good squad with the combination of four foreign recruits is a big challenge because Abahani played with two foreigners in the league.
“Since the departure of Drago Mamic, Abahani played really well and won the league title, so there is nothing to bring changes in the playing style. They have been trying to play with first touch since the appointment of George Kottan,” Titu said, adding that he would certainly have an advantage regarding knowledge about the local players, whom he guided in different clubs as well as the national team.
Abahani have never qualified for the knock-out stages of the now-defunct AFC President's Cup in five attempts and they also failed to do so in the last AFC Cup campaign.
The Sky Blues have confirmed Japanese midfielder Seiya Kojima in their Asian quota while they are still taking time to confirm the services of three out of four other foreign players -- Nigerian Emeka Darlington and Sunday Chizoba, Gambian Landing Darboe and Ghanaian Samad Yussif.
Abahani's preparation camp for the AFC Cup will start from February 12 as the players have been given a five-day rest, which started yesterday, and they have been asked to report on February 11.
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