Abahani aim to derail Kings as season resumes

Domestic football returns with a bang today following a seven-week break, as defending champions Bashundhara Kings face off against traditional powerhouses Abahani in the Federation Cup's Qualifier-1 fixture at Shaheed Dhirendranath Datta Stadium in Cumilla.

In Mymensingh, spirited Brothers Union will also take on giant-killers Rahmatganj MFS in the competition's elimination match at Rofiq Uddin Bhuiyan Stadium. Both matches will kick off at 2:45pm.

Under the new format of the Federation Cup, the winners of Qualifier-1 will move to the final, while the losing side will face the winners of the elimination match to have a second shot at the final.

Since the emergence of Kings in top-flight football, they have knocked down all heavyweights, including Abahani, who have managed to conquer Kings only twice in the last six seasons.

However, this season brought a twist. Abahani, fielding a squad without foreign players, secured their first-ever Bangladesh Premier League win over the Kings.

Local coach AKM Maruful Haque was behind Abahani's triumph. The club have now strengthened their squad with the inclusion of two proven foreign campaigners -- Raphael Augusto and Emeka Ogbugh -- and are determined to secure a place in the final after one season.

"Amid tight schedule, we don't want to wait for another match to confirm the final berth; rather, we want to ensure the Federation Cup final by beating our opponents tomorrow [Tuesday]," Abahani head coach AKM Maruful Haque told The Daily Star from Cumilla yesterday.

Abahani had kept up their training during Ramadan, and the two new foreign recruits also had three weeks to adjust to the local squad. Coach Maruful is optimistic about the inclusion of midfielder Raphael and attacker Emeka.

"We had previously lacked control of the game from midfield and, as a result, failed to create goal-scoring chances. But the inclusion of Raphael and Emeka has mostly resolved those issues," said Maruful, who, however, downplays his significant role in shaping the Abahani squad.

Kings, meanwhile, used the break to bolster their ranks with four foreign players. Three are likely to feature today alongside proven Brazilian Jonathan Fernandes.

However, they face injury setbacks. Miguel Ferreira and Tariq Raihan Kazi will miss the tie due to unavailability and injury, while defender Tapu Barman and new Argentine forward Juan Eduardo Lescano are also nursing knocks.

Despite the injury concerns, Kings are determined to reverse their fortunes in the season's second meeting with Abahani and make it to the final for a second straight year.

"Although Bashundhara Kings are ahead of Abahani in terms of the head-to-head record over the last six to seven years, tomorrow [today] the team who takes their chances will come out successful," Kings assistant coach Mahbub Hossain Roxy told The Daily Star over the phone from Cumilla.