Officials of both Abahani and Mohammedan admitted after the Group D game at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on Monday that both the teams were looking to avoid Sheikh Jamal in the quarterfinal before their game got underway. The winner of the Group D tie between Abahani and Mohammedan would have avoided a last-eight clash with powerhouses Sheikh Jamal, who lead Group A after two wins in as many matches.
After Abahani registered a 2-0 victory over their arch-rivals on Monday, the Sky Blue outfit’s officials sounded satisfied at the post-match press conference.
Both the sides are currently being guided by interim coaches. Former footballers Amalesh Sen took charge of Abahani a day before the tournament started while Jewel Rana is performing the role of interim manager of Mohammedan in place of the ailing Saiful Bari Titu.
Amalesh admitted that his unit executed his plan properly and felt that the Sky Blues were successful in stifling the opponents with two stunning goals.
‘A vital win against Mohammedan should increase our confidence which will no doubt help us for the next match [a quarterfinal clash with Feni Soccer Club],’ said Amalesh, who scored the first ever goal between the eternal rivals in an exhibition game in 1972.
‘Definitely we were thinking about how to avoid a strong opponent like Sheikh Jamal in the quarterfinal and finally all the credit goes to the boys who made a comparatively easy run for us. The two goals scored were brilliant,’ he added.
Amalesh went on to say that before the game started he had instructed his back-line to mark Mohammedan attackers Zahid Hasan Ameli and Zahid Hossain closely.
‘We had a plan to thwart Zahid [Hossain] and [Zahid Hossain] Ameli and they proved to be ineffective as our defenders worked their socks off,’ said Amalesh.
Jewel Rana, assistant coach of Mohammedan, expressed his frustration with his defence as they were unable to stop the Abahani forwards from scoring twice.
‘We lost due to our defenders who committed some silly mistakes and failed to mark the opponents properly,’ said Jewel.
‘The quality of both the sides’ foreigners made the difference and no doubt the opponents’ foreigners were better than us.
‘Everybody endeavoured to avoid a strong opponent in the knockout level and had we also wanted it. However, we have to win the next match [against Sheikh Jamal] to keep alive our hopes in the competition,’ concluded Jewel.
-With New Age input
