Saif SC see off Baridhara
Title aspirant Saif SC started out their Federation Cup campaign in okay fashion with an emphatic 3-0 win over lightweights Uttar Baridhara Club in the Group B opener at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
Saif SC might posted what seemed a fairly easy triumph based on the scoreline, nonetheless they faced a stiff challenge and they kept at bay for 48 minutes before a suicidal mistake from Baridhara -- perhaps a rsulting consequence only 10 days of practice prior to the tournament -- handed them the breakthrough.
The youthful Saif SC team, featuring three to four national players, dominated pre-season discussions after vibrant performances in warm-up matches against Sheikh Russel, Mohammedan and Bangladesh Police. However, they found the heading tough in their first competitive meet under Belgian coach Paul Put.
Saif SC, playing in a 4-1-2-3 formation, tried to penetrate from the flanks, with left-back Rahmat Mia and right-back Yeasin Arafat delivering different crosses which were fended off effortlessly by Baridhara's Egyptian defender Abdel Rahim.
Coach Zahidur Rahman Milon saw his area go near taking the lead twice in the initial half but Saif SC goalkeeper Pappu Hossain denied Uzbek midfielder Evgeniy Kochnev found in the 21st minute even while Sujon Biswas tumbled inside the package after receiving a good cut-rear from Egypt's Abdel Khalek Hammad and let a good scoring likelihood pass him by several minutes from the break.
"First of all, we're able to not keep up with the tempo that we have seen during training session. So I found my players were not that great," Put said. "After the break, I briefed them to show patience and changed the tactics to expose the opponent's backline. We dominated the second half and had 70 to 75 % possession. We were as well a bit lucky to obtain an own target from the opponents. Even now we have quite a distance to go and it is always significant to possess a good start."
Saif SC gained a stranglehold in the next fifty percent and Abdel Rahim bundled into his private net while wanting to clear a minimal cross from Saif SC's Uzbek midfielder Sirojuddin Rakhmatullaev four minutes in to the second half.
Rather than whipping in crosses because they have been doing, Saif SC employed crisp passing while inviting their opponents to press and effectively exploited the spaces left out.
Nigeria's Ikechukwu Ngwoke collected the ball close to the halfway line and made a good daunting come across the box before firing a powerful shot recent goalkeeper Azad Hossain found in the 63rd minute before Faisal Ahmed Fahim ran in to the box down the left and found the inside of the near post to make sure victory in the 68th minute.
In the day's second match, Arambagh posted a 2-0 make an impression on Brothers Union, thanks to strikes from Murad Hossain Chowdhury and Nigeria's Chizoba Christopher.
Brothers, who arrived to the tournament on the trunk of just two days of planning, could have gone the discipline with a point however the forwards squandered a handful of good chances.
