AFC President's Cup Qualifiers: Nepal's Three Star faces dual challenge

Kathmandu,  Laxmi Bank Three Star Club faces a dual challenge in the Group A qualifying rounds of AFC President´s Cup that kick off at the Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu on Tuesday. Three Star will open its campaign against Abahani Limited of Bangladesh in the day´s late match.

Three Star, which had reached the semifinals in the first edition of the tournament in 2005 on home turf, faces the challenge of crossing the group stage. Besides this, the Lalitpur-based side, which will be representing Nepali club football in the qualifiers, also has the responsibility of regaining Nepal´s lost glory in the event. The top two teams in the round robin league will qualify for the final rounds. 

--> No Nepali club has crossed the group stage since 2009 in the tournament that features the league champions of third-tier football nations of Asia as classified by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Nepal Police Club failed to cross the group stage in three editions of the tournament since 2009. New Road Team (NRT), which represented Nepal in 2010, also faced a similar fate.

In the first edition, Three Star had made it to the semifinals. In 2006 Manang Marshyangdi Club (MMC) crashed out from the group stage, but a year later Nepal Police Club finished runner-up and in 2008 it suffered defeat in the semifinal. Since then, Nepali clubs have never made it to the semifinals. There were no qualifying rounds from 2005 to 2007. 

"It is a challenge to regain the past glory of the club," said Three Star coach Pradip Humagain, adding, "We also have an opportunity to prove that we can cross the group stage, which other Nepali clubs have failed to do in the last four editions." 

Coach Humagain opined the team has the right combination of players to achieve the feat. "We have the right combination of players and we have also recruited about half-a-dozen star players that helped us win the league," said Humagain.

Among other players, Three Star has recruited Nepali internationals Jagjeet Shrestha, Nirajan Khadka, Sabindra Shrestha and Prakash Budhathoki and African player Leonce Dodoz who is likely to pair up with Adewumi Femi as striker in the starting line-up. 

"To play in the President´s Cup is also a dream for the players. They are motivated, hard-working and have good understanding," said Humagain, who is also cautious about his side´s first match against Abahani Limited that currently lies second in the Bangladeshi league. 

"The first match is always important for the team. Unlike other international tournaments where Nepali teams had to wait for other teams´ results to secure berth in the final rounds, we will do it on our own and we must win the first match for that," said Humagain, whose side comprises nine national players. Midfielder Nirajan Khadka is likely to miss the entire qualifiers due to leg injury, while other injured players Biraj Maharjan, Santosh Sahukhala and Bijay Gurung have recovered, said Humagain. 

However, Humagain is also aware that almost all the participating teams of the tournament are of similar level. "There is not much difference between the teams but we will have the home advantage."

Police Club had defeated the same team from Bangladesh 4-0 in the 2008 edition of the tournament, but in 2010 NRT was defeated 2-0. 

Abahani´s Iranian coach Ardeshir Pournemas said the first match will always be vital for the team. "We will beat the opponent to show the improvements in Bangladeshi football," said the Iranian, who took over the club seven months ago.

Abahani is studded with seven national players of Bangladesh and two foreigners. "We should not worry as we are playing in the league round, but we should be cautious," said Pournemas, who aims to qualify for the finals with a top-two finish.

The qualifying rounds will begin on Tuesday with Taiwan Power Company, the 2011 champion of Chinese Taipei, taking on Erchim FC of Mongolia.