Dhaka traffic hinders Maziya practice

Maldivian club Maziya FC coach Marjan Sekulovski was upset as his side failed to practice due to the infamous Dhaka traffic, but he is still hopeful of getting good results in their AFC Cup second preliminary round against hosts Abahani Limited.

The two sides will lock horns for the first leg of the qualifying round at Bangabandhu National Stadium Wednesday, before the second leg takes place at Male on Wednesday next week. 

“We did nothing after arrival here yesterday [Sunday]. It took one hour and 40 minutes to reach this training ground. What can I say after that? They [Abahani] know this ground well as they train here, but we are here for the first time,” a frustrated Sekulovski said Monday.

However, he also said they had seen video footage of their opponents in order to make game plans. 

“Yes, we watched their matches in the Federation Cup. They are a good side and it is not important which department of Abahani is strong. The most important thing is the result and the pitch we are going to play on,” said the Maziya coach.

Sekulovski, a former footballer from Macedonia, is looking for a positive aggregate result.

“[In the away match] the target is to get a good result and to advance to the second round of prequalification stage with an aggregate of good results in the home and away matches. It is good to be optimistic, but every year there are different players and different conditions, so we are hoping to repeat the kind of results we produced in 2017,” he said.

“Every game is different, so I don’t think we have some advantage on the base of previous record. The important thing is that our players will give their best performance and win the game. We have eight national team players,” Sekulovski added.

The aggregate winner of the contest will face the winner between Bhutan club Paro Fc and Indian club Bengaluru Fc in the next round.