Abahani Suffer in Sudden Death

Abahani's dreams to end the season with an international football title shattered yesterday when this year's Bangladesh professional league champions bowed out of Assam's 56th Bharat Ratna Lokapriya Bordoloi Trophy on penalties.

The Dhaka heavyweights paid for numerous missing chances against ten-man ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation) of Mumbai, who won 5-4 in sudden death tiebreakers after the 120-minute second semifinal ended goalless at the Nehru Stadium in Guwahati. ONGC, who will take on Thailand's Bangkok Port Authority in tomorrow's final at the same venue, were reduced to ten men in the first minute of the second half. But Abahani's firepower was not enough to beat rival goalkeeper Bilifung Narzary, who pulled off a series of saves.

Abahani manager Satyajit Das Rupu told The Daily Star over phone from the biggest city of India's northeast that Abahani fluffed so many chances that they should have won the semifinal by a big margin. "Officially we are unbeaten but we have to go," said the former national midfielder. "Here we have learned one thing that we must learn to fight every minute of a game. There is no chance to relax in modern football. The Indian teams we have played here have better stamina and never give an inch," he said.

Playing under ideal conditions in the floodlit match, local goaltender Narzary denied second half efforts by Emily, Abul and Moni to take the match into extra-time where the sky-blues' national striker Emily hit the bar. Abahani, without injured Ujjal, mounted heavy pressure utilising the extra one-man advantage but the forwards failed to convert close-range chance. In the shootout, Saifur Rahman Moni, Charles Ghansah, Nazrul Islam and Zahid Hassan Emily scored for Abahani while Pranotosh and Pradeep Poddar missed their spotkicks.

Abahani, who finished runners-up in 1992 and returned to the tournament after 15 years, beat Oil India Limited (OIL) 2-0 and drew goalless with last year's champions Assam State Electricity Board to reach the last four.

Abahani: Biplab, Obaidur (Pradeep), Ghansah, Nazrul, Waly, Joy, Pranotosh, Abul, Robin (Zahed Parvez), Moni and Emily.

Abahani Into Bordoloi Trophy Semi Finals

Abahani strolled into the semifinals of the 56th Bordoloi Trophy as Group A champions when they drew goalless with defending champions Assam Electricity Board today in Guwahati.

Playing on a cold November afternoon at the Nehru Stadium, the Dhaka heavyweights who rested a few key players wasted a number of chances with Moni, Joy, Pranotosh and Emily fluffing sitters in the last quarterfinals group match.

Bangladesh's B League champions Abahani, who won their opener against fellow semifinalsts Oil India Ltd 2-0, finished with four points while the local powermen bowed out with just one point.

Abahani will take on Group A runners-up Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) of Mumbai in the second semifinal on Thursday while Oil India face Thailand's Bangkok Port Authority in Wednesday's first semifinal.

The final is slated for November 24.

Abahani team: Biplab, Obaidur, Nazrul, Ghansah, Mintu, Ujjal (Zahed), Joy, Pranotosh, Robin (Abdullah Parvez), Moni and Emily.

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.

Abahani off to Winning Start in India

Abahani brightened their chances to reach the semifinals of the 56th Bordoloi Trophy when the Dhaka giants blanked inform Oil India Limited 2-0 in their first quarterfinals league match in Guwahati yesterday.

Guest striker Saifur Rahman Moni struck either side of the half at the Nehru Stadium to mark the Bangladesh professional league champions' return to the prestigious tournament in Assam after 15 years, according to a message received in Dhaka. Moni, on loan from Muktijoddha Sangsad, put the sky-blues ahead after 36 minutes and sealed the victory on the hour-mark.

Oil India had eliminated Goa heavyweights Vasco in the pre-quarterfinals before edging defending champions Assam State Electric Board 1-0 two days earlier in the Group B opening match. Abahani will need just one point against Assam State Electric Board in their next match to reach the last four.

Thailand's Bangkok Port Authority, the other foreign team in the tournament, are pitted against Food Corporation of India and Mumbai's ONGC in Group A.

Abahani off to India Today

Abahani return to Bordoloi Trophy after 15 years when the Bangladesh professional league champions take part in the 56th edition of Assam's premier football tournament.

This time, the sky-blues will aim a better performance after finishing runners-up in 1992 when they lost to Kolkata giants East Bengal in the final. Weather permitting, a 30-member Abahani squad including 20 footballers will leave Dhaka this morning by air for Kolkata en route to Guwahati, the largest north-eastern city of India, where the preliminary rounds of the tournament begun on November 8 with 16 teams.

The final is slated for November 24. Abahani will play in the second stage where two groups of three teams each vie for the semifinals. The Dhaka heavyweights are scheduled to play their first match on Sunday but manager Satyajit Das Rupu could not confirm their opponents.Bangkok Port Authority Club of Thailand, the 1979 and 1993 winners, are the other foreign team to play directly into the second stage where they will joined by Goa's Vasco and Mumbai-based ONGC among others."

So far, our preparation has been satisfactory but our plans had to be changed at the eleventh hour as Elijah Junior cannot travel with us due to technical problems," informed Rupu. Nigerian striker Junior, top scorer in this year's inaugural B. League for Brothers Union, trained with Abahani as a guest player. The sky-blues hired Muktijoddha's national striker Saifur Rahman Moni and Farashganj's promising forward Mohammed Robin apart from Muktijoddha's Ghanaian defender Charles Ghansah for the trip." Junior looked good (in training) but Moni and Robin are national players too. So I don't think our attack has would be weak," said Abahani captain Arif Khan Joy. The holding midfielder, also an ex-national captain, said their target is to emulate Brothers, who are the only team from Bangladesh to win the trophy.

Brothers defeated Shillong XI in penalty shootout in the 2004 final while a Dhaka XI and Dhaka Mohammedan ended as losing finalists in 1972 and 1989." I won't say we have fantastic preparation but the fitness of the players is very good. Our preliminary target is to win the two group matches to secure a semifinal place," said the Abahani skipper." After that everything becomes knockout. If we go as far as the final, it would be a great preparation for the Friendship Cup, which starts in Dhaka on November 28. Playing in front of the home crowd again would be a great motivation."I feel the Friendship Cup would be a hit among the crowd as an international club tournament is being held here after a long time."

Joy added that the club officials are contemplating continue the training with a short break after the two tournaments." If the next professional league transfers start in January as per schedule, we will definitely continue camp." We don't know who our first-match opponents are. The first game is vital and I hope it would be easy for us to get accustomed to the conditions as the weather is expected to cool down this time of the year," he said adding that he was hopeful Mohammed Sujan would be fit enough to play during the tournament." His improvement has been remarkable. He may not start in the first match but if we advance to the knockout stage, I feel he will play," Joy said of the injured national centre-back who has had been out of action for more than a year. This year's tournament holds special attraction as organisers Guwahati Sports Association has decided to revive the Bordoloi Trophy as a part of its golden jubilee celebrations.