Abahani Meet AEB Today

Abahani will look to seal their place in the semifinals of the 56th Bordoloi Trophy when the Dhaka giants meet defending champions Assam Electricity Board (AEB) in the last quarterfinal league match today.

The Group-B match will be held at the Nehru Stadium in Guwahati, Assam.

The holders, in a must win situation, are on the verge of elimination after losing their opening match 1-0 to Oil India Limited.

Abahani's 2-0 win over Oil India on Sunday, thanks to goals either side of the half by striker Saifur Rahman Moni, has put the Bangladesh professional league champions on top of the table and all but confirm their place in the last four with a better goal difference.

Having ended their two group matches, the Oilmen have three points with an inferior goal difference that can only come handy if Abahani lose 4-0 to the pointless powermen.

A message from Guwahati last night, however, confirmed that Abahani would not relax and go for a win when a draw will suffice for them to emerge group champions and avoid a possible clash against Thailand's Bangkok Port Authority Club - the other foreign participants - in the semis.

Port Authority and ONGC of Mumbai, pitted against each other in yesterday's match to decide Group A winners, have already qualified for the semifinals.

Port Authority handed a 7-0 defeat to Food Corporation of India who had earlier lost 2-0 to ONGC to bow out of contention.

Abahani, in their opening match, struggled early but took little time to expose the weaknesses of the local side.

Moni found the net for the sky-blues after 35 minutes when the guest player, on loan from Muktijoddha, capitalised on a centre from playmaker Mehdi Hassan Ujjal.

Ujjal had a hand in the second goal as well on the hour when his corner-kick picked up Moni, who headed home from close range.

Abahani earlier finished runners-up in the Bordoloi Trophy in 1992 while Brothers Union remain the only Bangladesh team to have won the prestigious tournament, in 2004.