In a duel of ‘David and the Goliath’ defending champions Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club faces Brothers Union in the first quarterfinal of the Federation Cup at the Bangabandhu National Stadium at 5:15pm today.
Comparing the sides will be a hard task for any football expert as the Sheikh Jamal’s in yellow outfit are bolstered with 13 Bangladesh national team players complimented by an efficient foreign quartet of Haitian Wedson Anselme, Nigerian Emeka Darlington, Haitian Leonel Preux and Gambian Landing Darboe Jamal.
On the other hand, Brothers, coached by Indian football legend Syed Naeemuddin, have nothing to lose as former national stalwarts, goalkeeper Biplob Bhattacharjee and defender Mohammad Sujon are the lone source of inspiration to the youngsters for the daunting task while they will be also be counting heavily on Augustin Walson, the Nigerian forward who has been the live-wire for the Oranges this season.
However, despite having prolific mid-fielders like Mamunul Islam, Jamal Bhuiyan, Sohel Rana and defenders like Nasiruddin Chowdhury, Raihan Hasan at his disposal, Sheikh Jamal coach Muruful Haque is not taking their opponent lightly.
“Its a knock-out stage game and there is no room of complacency, on the field you have to respect the opponents,” said Maruf.
Naeemuddin emphasised on the pressure-less situation and said, “We have nothing to lose and thats our advantage. We will fight it out, we will make life hard for them with our all out efforts.”