Abahani ready for Mohun Bagan challenge
Dhaka, May 30: In a duel of Bengal football, Dhaka Abahani and Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan lock horns in their last match of group E of AFC Cup at 7:45 pm at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on Wednesday.
In the pre-match presser both the teams expressed their aspirations of finishing on a winning note.
Drago Mamic, the Croatian coach of Abahani was ready for the occasion. “It will be a big match and playing against Mouhun Bagan in our own yard, we are confident that playing well ensures a win, and for that we have to avail the chances. We will go on the field as the representatives of Bangladesh, with a view to provide something special to the fans of Abahani.”
When asked whether Abahani will lack motivation as there is no chance of moving ahead, coach Mamic replied, “There is no room for complacency as a professional outfit never runs out of motivation, a football club never wants to lose, we don’t fight on the field to lose the match, and surely we don’t want to lose the last match of AFC Cup.”
Mamic acknowledged their opponents strength despite being without their star striker Sony Norde. “Mohun Bagan is a strong team, it does not matter whether they have Sony Norde or not, when the key player is not there, other players are motivated to perform, they have a good number of players in Jeje Lalpekhula, Balwant Singh, Katsumi Yusa, and Darryl Duffy, They will not lack motivation to beat us” explained Mamic.
Sanjay Sen, the coach of Mohun Bagan appeared confident of a good show despite expressing the reality. ‘It’s our last match of the season, we want to cap the season off with a win. We have played the I League, the Federation Cup and the AFC Cup. We have played a total of 33 matches this season. Despite losing only seven of them, we did not win any trophy. The results show how Mohun Bagan has performed. Tomorrow’s match has nothing to provide for both the teams, the pride and the responsibility of providing a good brand of football prompts Mohun Bagan to put up a good show” said Sanjay.
Talking about the 3-1 win at Kolkata, Sanjay said they respected Abahani. “We did not underestimate Abahani in our home match, we conceded an early goal but we bounced back to score three goals and won the match. Its football, tomorrow Abahani will be firing all cylinders in their own ground. We are ready for a tough match.”
Sanjay said he is not worried with the absence of Sony Norde, the Haitian forward. “It’s unfortunate that Sony Norde is not with us, his absence is totally for a technical reason, he was with us in the airport and he was eager to come to Dhaka and play the match, but he could not make the trip. We are also not worried with the absence of Sony, we have a strong team and I would like to mention Sony was not there when we beat Bengaluru” said Sanjay.
