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Kathmandu,Saturday January 08, 2000 Paush 24th, 2056.
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Teams
going into final with contrasting mindset
-By
Suman Malla
KATHMANDU, Jan 7-
Manang Marshyangdi Club (MMC) and Mahendra Police Club (MPC), two of
the giants of Nepali football go into today’s Birthday Cup final
with contrasting mindset.
Following their 9-1
semi-final dubbing of RCT, MMC are confident that the Cup would be
theirs forever. They were the winners of the famous Cup in 1996 and
1997.
"The players look
in good touch and are keenly concentrating on the final," said
the MMC coach, Birat Jung Shahi. "Anything less than first place
will be great disappointment."
MMC, after a slow start
against Sikkim in the quarterfinals, displayed a great combination in
the semi-final to leave RCT in limbo with the creativity of the
mid-fielders and forwards. And, according to Shahi, there would not be
any change in their line-up against MPC in the final.
In Kumar Thapa, they
have a perfect mid-fielder who seems to instil self-belief in all the
players. And Rajesh Shahi, lending necessary support to his skipper,
MMC seems to have an edge over the Police team.
The Police outfit,
after their recent ride of success in the ANFA super-league and Budha
Subba Gold Cup, have been plagued by injury to number of key players.
Mid-fielders Saroj Thapa has been sidelined with a broken leg while
both Gyanendra Sherchan and Rajendra Shrestha are far from fit. That
will make the role of Dev Narayan Chaudhary and Sandesh Shrestha more
crucial to win the battle in the mid-field, and prevent the opposition
from finding their rhythm.
"The team
certainly has problems. But I still have a strong belief that we can
put on a good display," argues Police coach Yugambar Suwal.
"I don’t necessarily think it will be the most skilful team
that will win, the final could turn on any single action."
He, however, hinted
that he could play Hari Khadka in the middle as against his usual
attacking position to ease off his injury. That suggests they would be
relying heavily on Ramesh Budathoki for goals.
Khadka, who has been
contracted to Mohan Bagan of Calcutta, is currently here on leave to
nurse his back injury which he sustained during the club’s practice
session.
The great asset of the
Police team, however, is their formidable defence. Basanta Thapa who
showed his phenomenal ability to convert virtually every chance he had
in the semi-final against RCT would find it tough to pierce the wall
of Anil Adhikari and Rakesh Shrestha. MPC may even force the rival
defence to the backfoot by setting up the pace from the flanks once
their defence hold the opposition attacks.
Besides, they have a
safe pair of hands in Binod Kharel under the bars, who had rescued the
team in many a battle. His counterpart Binod Dangol at the other end,
notwithstanding few occasions has hardly been tested, thanks to the
mid-fielders and strikers. But if MPC manage to break the defensive
shackles, the absence of country’s first choice keeper Upendra Man
Singh would be surely felt.
Certainly the final
should not fail for the want of a better script when MMC, which have
been the best attacking team so far, takes on Mahendra Police, one
with the better defence.
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