With one eye on the final, top-flight Bangladesh football side Sheikh Russel KC will leave here for Colombo today to take part in the final round of the AFC President’s Cup which is scheduled to kick off on September 20.
This is the first time a Bangladeshi club will play in the final round of the AFC President’s Cup. Russel, who won the treble including the league title last season, also became the first Bangladeshi side to qualify for the latter stages of the competition. The treble winners will begin their campaign against seven-time Mongolian league champions Erchim FC on Saturday.
Russel will play their last Group B match against Rimyongsu Club of North Korea on September 24. Both the games will take place at Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo.
The winners of Group B will take on the top-placed team of Group A in the final on September 26.
Mercantile Bank is sponsoring Russel in the tournament. A press conference was held at the BFF House yesterday when Bangladesh Football Federation president Kazi Salahuddin was present. “Sheikh Russel made the second round of the tournament which is a first for a Bangladeshi club. I hope this is a trait which will be repeated soon. I thank Mercantile Bank for sponsoring Sheikh Russel,” said the BFF chief.
The Managing Director of Mercantile Bank M Ehsanul Haque hoped Bangladesh football will flourish in the near future. “We stepped ahead to see Sheikh Russel perform well in the final round of the AFC President’s Cup. Their success means Bangladesh’s success,” said Ehsanul.
Russel started their preparation camp on August 20 and coach Jakaria Babu is fully confident that his charges will overcome all odds en route to the final.
“If my boys can follow my instructions and implement the things that they had done in training then I hope we can play in the final,” Babu said before adding, “We had a few obstacles. But the players that we have are capable of overcoming those obstacles.”
The coach also talked about the opponents. “I have watched videos of both the clubs. The club from North Korea is seemingly a bit better while the club from Mongolia is similar to us.”
Captain Mithun Chowdhury said playing the qualifiers at the same ground would give his side an added advantage. “This is Bangladesh we are playing for. Since we have played the first round matches on the same ground, I can say we can play in the final.
“No other Bangladeshi team qualified for the final round. Our hard work made it possible. And we can do it in the final round too,” added the Russel forward.
The club’s director-in-charge, Ismat Zamil Akand Lablu, confirmed the players they recently recruited from Mohammedan Sporting Club Limited and Abahani Limited are flying with the team after resolving
the misunderstandings with the concerned clubs. Only Janid Hossain will miss the tournament due to his sudden national Under-23 call-up for the 17th Asian Games.
