Abahani to face Sk Jamal in first semis of Fed Cup Football today

FE Team | Published: December 06, 2013 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2025 06:01:00

The first semifinal of the Walton Federation Cup Football Tournament between crowd-pulling Abahani Limited and star-studded Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club will be held today (Friday) at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in the city, reports UNB.
The match will start at 5:00 pm. State-owned Bangladesh Television will telecast the match live from the country's premier sports venue.
The second semifinal of the meet between Muktijoddha Sangsad KC and Team BJMC will be held tomorrow (Saturday) at the same time and same venue.
In a pre-match press briefing at the BFF House Thursday, coaches and captains of both the teams expressed their optimism about winning the semifinal displaying their best performances.
Nigerian coach of Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club Joseph Afusi said, "We've targeted all the available trophies of the season and we like to start it through Federation Cup Football. We'll fight for the title with our best performances."
"Abahani is a strong team with experienced and young players. However, we're ready for the tough challenge," he said, adding, "Our Haitian star player Sony Norde overcame from a big injury and is ready to play."
Addressing the press conference, captain of Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club and national booter Mamunul Islam said, "Both the teams are equally strong and their winning chances (in the semifinal) are also 50-50. But we want to win the match playing our good football with the satisfaction of the fans."
Observing that the team scoring first will get an advantage to win the match, he said his team will have to utilise opportunities properly coming their way.
Abahani coach Amalesh Sen was banking upon the recent form of the team. "We're yet to concede any goal in the last three matches. The best of Abahani is yet to come, and players are determined to win the match."
"Our preparation is very good this time and there is no injury problem in our side," he added.
Abahani captain Mohammad Sujon said they are prepared for the battle. "We like to play the game as we played against Mohammedan to win the semifinal for which we have to use chances."