Wednesday, Feb 25, 2004
Wednesday, Feb 25, 2004 |
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Football
By Our Sports Reporter
KOLKATA, FEB. 24. Kingfisher East Bengal, on a high after its stupendous international success this season, gave enough indications of an encore in its AFC Cup Group E league match against Malaysia's Negri Sembilan at Salt Lake Stadium here on Wednesday. The city giant has had a great run abroad, sustaining its devastating form - that won it the ASEAN club championship at the start of the season - against foreign opponents even at the fag-end of its playing calendar. This was evident in the 3-2 away win against champion Singapore club Geylang United in the opening group league tie. Coach Subhas Bhowmick did not make any tall claims but said his team's target was reaching the semifinals. The start has been quite encouraging and East Bengal definitely enjoys the advantage of playing Sembilan at home. Bhowmick suggested that beating the Malaysians would place his team in the best position for a knockout berth, as East Bengal will next play the Maldives club Island FC, which is arguably weakest opponent in the group. The quarterfinals will have the five group champions and the best three runners-up. The opponents here are evenly placed with both teams having won their inaugural matches; Sembilan drubbed Island FC 6-0 at home in Bukit Jalil the same day East Bengal beat Geylang. Both have a fair sprinkling of quality foreigners, who really make the difference in these parts of the world. This being their first clash both sides spoke cautiously. Negri Sembilan's coach Kukuswami Devan said his team would play with the objective of taking back at least one point. Bhowmick has scanned the internet to gain as much statistical knowledge the web has to offer. He said his team had crossed the toughest hurdle in beating Geylang but added, "the Malaysians will be no pushovers as they enjoy quite an advanced infrastructure compared to both India and Singapore.'' He also said that Sembilan, which found a berth in the tournament by virtue of being the Malaysian FA Cup champion, was fresh considering the new Malaysian season had started just recently. Sembilan has three Nigerians - goalkeeper Cajetau Oparango, Duke Epyong and Abdul Razzak - in its ranks. For East Bengal, Brazilian Cristiano Junior, has been the best bet. He has done very well as a striker scoring in almost every match while Nigerian Mike Okoro has proved to be a good support operating withdrawn in midfield. But Brazilian Douglas Da Silva and Ghanaian Suley Musah have missed the action in the second half of the season owing to injuries. The rest of the team does not have any fitness problems and with M. Suresh, who missed the Singapore trip due to visa problems, now available Bhowmick will have to choose from a great line-up that also includes the likes of Baichung Bhutia, Alvito D'Cunha, Sylo Malswamtulunga, Subhas Chakraborty, Dipak Mondal and Mahesh Gawli among others.
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