Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club and Brothers Union will look to improve on their contrasting fortunes as they are gunning to meet each other in their opening match of
the Super Cup on June 15 at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.
Sheikh Jamal are eyeing to finish the ongoing season on a high after showing much promise while Brothers Union, who ended their league campaign in eighth position, will be yearning to bring back the glory years as they have failed to secure any title after the commencement of the professional era.
Former national footballer Wasim Iqbal, who was selected as the coach of Sheikh Jamal for the cash-rich Super Cup in the absence of Nigerian head coach Joseph Afusi, was confident about landing the crown after the Dhanmondi-based outfit narrowly missed out on three titles to Sheikh Russell.
It has been a season of near misses for Sheikh Jamal as they reached the final of the Federation Cup and Independence Cup besides finishing second in the Bangladesh Premier League.
In both the finals of the cup competitions. Jamal took the lead before wasting the initiative and gifting the match to Russell through some silly mistakes. Jamal was also in the running for the BPL title before losing their momentum in the latter stages which enabled Russell to wrest back the title from the grasp of Jamal.
The newly appointed Wasim is, however, optimistic of success which has so far eluded Jamal this season.
‘The club officials informed me that in most of the matches this season, Jamal took the lead first and then gave away points by drawing or losing the matches in the league. We are working on that and we will try to maintain our lead till the end of the game,’ said Wasim in a press conference at the BFF house on Monday.
‘We are also focusing on finishing well. The championship will be dependent on total performance on the field,’ he added.
Wasim also stated that his side are not mentally prepared to play in the Super Cup.
‘After going through some practice sessions in the last few days I am hopeful that the team will perform well although they are not mentally ready as all the players were released by the club after the conclusion of the BPL.’
‘However, the players are all professional so I think that they will try their level best,’ said Wasim.
Hasan Al Mamun, captain of the Dhanmondi-based club is treating the tournament as a platform for the local players to prove themselves.
‘It will be an acid test for the local players. We had a short time to get prepared for the meet. We are working on fitness and tactical issues. It is tough but it applies the other teams as well,’ he said.
‘We were the runners-up of the Bangladesh Premier League and the other two professional tournaments [Federation Cup and Independence Cup]. It was unfortunate and we have sorted out the fault and working on it.’
‘This is the last chance to prove ourselves and to win something this season. We are giving our best and will fight for the championship,’ Hasan added.
Sheikh Jamal brought five players – Sujon, Imran, Bablu, Babu and Mamun from their own academy for the Super Cup.
Meanwhile, Brothers Union are dreaming about landing their first title since 2005 when they claimed the Premier League crown.
‘It’s really good for the country’s football as there will be no foreign players in the Super Cup. The junior and local players who spent most of their time in the bench due to the over-dependence of the clubs on the foreign players will now get the chance to prove themselves,’ said Amer Khan, manager of Brothers.
‘Our first target is to qualify from the group stages and reach the semifinal which will no doubt help to bring back the glory days of Brothers, even a little,’ he added in the press conference where newly appointed coach of Brothers, Mohidur Rahman Meraz was missing.
-With New Age input
