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Second-Leg First Semifinal

Brothers' uphill task

Sports Reporter
Brothers Union will give a last shot at the Cityccll Super Cup title today when they take on favourites Abahani in the second-leg of the first semifinal, which kicks off at the Bangabandhu National Stadium at 5 pm.
However, Wasim Iqbal's side will have to beat an inform Abahani by a two-goal margin to ensure a place in the March 27 final, where the winners will take away Tk one crore as prize money.
Amalesh Sen's B. League champions come to the second leg with a one-goal advantage after beating Brothers 3-2 in the first outing. It was Abahani's 13th consecutive victory of the season that was inspired by Zahid Hassan Emily's late brace that helped them recover from 2-1 down.
The Sky Blues, however, will miss their
inspirational Ghanaian star Awudu Ibrahim who had scored a spectacular opening goal last time out. The indefatigable striker is suspended for the game after being booked three times in four games.
Key centre-back Sujan is also nursing a minor injury but has yet to be ruled out, informed Abahani manager Satyajit Das Rupu.
"We have enough back-up players, so we are not going to be bothered by the absences. Our approach will remain attacking although we are leading," said Rupu, whose side need just a drawto confirm a place in the final.
If Brothers win by a one-goal margin, the semifinal will go into 30 minutes' extra time and penalty shootout if the teams are not separated after two hours of play.
"We are not thinking about the past. This is now the real semifinal for us. The previous match was like a quarterfinal. The players know that and we are going to go for win tomorrow," former national midfielder Rupu added.
FROM PAGE 17
Although the manager informed about their attacking approach, Abahani are likely to field an extra holding midfielder in Pranotosh beside Joy.
Emeka, top scorer in the tournament with five goals, will join three-goal Emily in the attack.
Abahani have their fourth foreigner - Ghana'sTette -- in the squad but his ITC (international transfer clearance) was yet to reach Dhaka as of this report.
Abahani, however, have to be cautious if they make the final pairing as Joy and Emeka are both on two yellow cards, each one short of being suspended for the grand finale.
Brothers manager Amer Khan knows that his side face a very tough task. But the
Oranges are one of two teams that have beaten Abahani this season.
"We defeated Abahani 2-0 in the first leg of the B. League. So repeating that is not impossible. We lost the first-leg semifinal in the last ten minutes when we made a few mistakes," said Amer.
"Bringing an attacking player (Rony) in place of Liton was a mistake. But our players' moral is high and they are raring to go. We have been playing attractive football recently and we will put on our best tomorrow," the former midfielder said.
"Starting this match a goal down is not a disadvantage because it will inspire our boys to go hard against the opponents. They looked positive during today’s training."
Brothers also have a new
import in their tent but Nigerian striker Okono. who plays in Maldives, will have to wait for the arrival of his ITC.
"If the ITC is available in time, we will gamble by play-ing him beside Henry (Quaye), who has not found the right partner yet, in place ofTapu."
There was good news for Brothers though, as fullback Arup recovered from injury and will take his place at the right side of a five-man midfield.
TEAMS
ABAHANI: Biplab, Nazrul, Sujan. Samad. Waly, Abul. Joy Pranotosh, Mamun, Emeka and Emily.
BROTHERS: Zia, Ariful, Shuvra, Mishit, Arup, Zahid, Manor Munna, Rikto, Shakil, Henry andTapu.