AFC President's Cup
Moment of truth for Three Star Club as Nepal's representative team
(Article from The Kathmandu Post)
- The biggest football extravaganza on Nepali soil - the AFC President's Cup - is all set to allure the country's football fans within a few hours from now. And with the presence of the 2004 National League Champion, Three Star Club, the tournament is sure to offer lots of thrills and excitement to football lovers for the next 10 days.
In its attempt to give a chance to Asian minnows, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) conceptualized to organize a tournament among the top clubs of the 'C' category countries. And Nepal being the lone bidder, bagged the chance to host the first Asian football tournament named after its president, Mohammad Bin Hammam.
In the beginning, the deteriorating security situation in Nepal forced AFC to consider Karachi of Pakistan as an alternative venue. But after the inspection team led by AFC representative Indran Rasasingham showed the green light, the tournament venue was finally granted to Nepal.
A total of eight national champions from eight countries are participating in the tournament which bears the cash prize of US$50,000 for the winners. The losing finalist will bag US$25,000. The participating countries are Nepal, Bhutan, Chinese Taipei, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Cambodia, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Being the first meet of its kind, all the participating clubs are unknown to each other. So there is no clear favorite of this tournament. Nepal being the host, and the strong domestic league structures of Chinese Taipei, Cambodia and Tajikistan, it suggests that other participating teams in the tournament have to toil hard to walk away with the laurels and lucre from this Himalayan Kingdom.
As this is an international event as well, Three Star Club will represent Nepal. Therefore, the opponents playing against the team must perform well on the field to sustain the pressure from the hostile local crowd. They will find it easy to play on the new international standard turf of Dashrath Stadium as Three Star captain Upendra Man Singh said, "A good team plays good football on a good turf." He added that the then poor state of the Dashrath Stadium had helped Nepal to pull a couple of upsets in the past. "Now, we should totally rely on our own caliber."
The Three Star Club dominated Nepali football in 2004 as it went undefeated in all the 17 games of the national league. They have done an excellent job even after the league in Kathmandu but are, however, criticized for being underperformers outside Kathmandu. But their present squad looks like a nice ensemble of young guns and experienced players.
This is because the Club has recently recruited six new players. The major signings includes promising Pralaya Rajbhandari, Anil Gurung, Ujjwol Manandhar, Anjan KC, Nirajan Khadka and Manang Marsyangdi Club (MMC) midfield maestro Rajesh Shahi. Boasting national such stars as Upendra Man Singh, Bal Gopal Maharjan, Surendra Tamang, Lok Bandhu Gurung and Janak Singh already, Three Star is expected to give their best in the tournament.
Everybody at the helms of the Club knows how important this tournament is in monetary aspects. Three Star President Lalit Krishna Shrestha is even fancying constructing the club's own stadium somewhere in Lalitpur if the players would come up with the title and the cash prize.
"US$50,000 is a good amount of money for a Nepali club as it would change the status of the club entirely," Shrestha told City Post.
But realistically, Three Star will face a toughest period in the history of the club in the coming 10 days. And if it faces the hardest period with good team spirit and sportsmanship along with aggressive and dashing play on the field, the long wait should almost be over because the next time they might as well be preparing their team on their own home ground.
Match Schedule
Date Group Match Time Venue
4/5 A Three Star vs. Power Co 17:00 Dashrath Stadium
4/5 A Regar Tadaz vs. Transport Utd 16:00 APF Ground, Halchowk
5/5 B Dordoi vs. Hello Utd 16:00 APF Ground, Halchowk
5/5 B WAPDA vs. Blue Star 16:00 Dashrath Stadium
6/5 A Power Co vs. Regar Tadaz 16:00 APF Ground, Halchowk
6/5 A Transport Utd vs. Three Star 16:00 Dashrath Stadium
7/5 B Hello Utd vs. WAPDA 16:00 APF Ground, Halchowk
7/5 B Blue Star vs. Dordoi 16:00 Dashrath Stadium
8/5 A Power Co vs. Transport Utd 16:00 APF Ground, Halchowk
8/5 A Three Star vs. Regar Tadaz 16:00 Dashrath Stadium
9/5 B Hello Utd vs. Blue Star 16:00 Dashrath Stadium
9/5 B Dordoi vs. WAPDA 16:00 APF Ground, Halchowk
12/5 SF I Winner 'A' vs. Runner-up 'B' 16:00 Dashrath Stadium
12/5 SF II Winner 'B' vs. Runner-up 'A' 19:00 Dashrath Stadium
14/5 Final Winner (Match 13 vs. Match 14) 19:00 Dashrath Stadium
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