Dhaka Abahani will face Brothers Union in the first semi-final of the Grameenphone Federation Cup at the Kamalapur stadium at 5:00pm today. The match will be transmitted live in BTV.
Brothers Union have displayed a good brand of football thanks to their overseas players’ performances. They arguably have the most attractive set of foreign recruits in Brazilian playmaker Everton and defender Danilo, Cameroonian forward Bitcha Richards and his Ghanaian attacking partner Ennock Bentil. The orange outfit defeated Feni Soccer and Dhaka Mohammedan SC and were the first team to book a semi-final berth.
Abahani on the other hand reached the last four as a shaky unit with their performance going through up and downs. The sky blue outfit came from behind to save the match against Sheikh Jamal with a 1-1 draw and also drew goalless with Sheikh Russell. Luck was on Abahani’s side as Sheikh Russell missed a penalty just three minutes from time and a goal would have seen them as the group winners with Abahani thrown out of the tournament.
However, both Abahani and Brothers Union are hoping for a win on a new day. In a do or die match there is very little scope of committing a mistake and the coaches were busy instructing the players about it. Brothers initiate a lot of attacks through the flanks with skipper Faisal Mahmood and Didar linking effectively with their foreign quartet. Twum Frank and Awudu Ibrahim, the Ghanaian attacking duo of Abahani, will be closely marked by the Brothers defenders. Ujjal, Pranatosh and wing-back Siraji will also face stiff challenge from their opponents.
Possession in the midfield will be the key to success and both the teams have efficient holding and attacking midfielders.
Abahani coach Ali Akbar Parmoslemi, however, wants a good teamwork. ‘I am not thinking about the past matches, the players have realised that they are yet to produce the best, the time has arrived to prove their worth and they are ready, Brothers have played good football but we can play better,’ said the Iranian coach.
Brothers coach Wasim Iqbal, a former star winger, however, wants to go slow but steady. ‘The equation is
simple, we will just play our attacking game, Abahani are a good team and I believe grabbing the opportunities that fall in our way will determine the winners, Brothers will take to the field to win and we have the ability to do it,’ said Wasim.
