The 133rd Durand Cup has reached its business end with two mouth-watering clashes to be played tomorrow to kick-start the knockout stages of the tournament. In the first quarterfinal NorthEast United FC will face Indian Army FT at Kokrajhar while last year’s runners-up Emami East Bengal will meet local side Shillong Lajong FC at Shillong.
East Bengal qualified for the knockouts on virtue of being one of the best second placed teams in the tournament. They will be up against a confident Shillong Lajong FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, who qualified for the quarterfinals by topping Group F. The match is scheduled for a 7 PM kick-off.
The Kolkata Giants will have their task cut out in front of the packed Shilong Lajong supporters who will be backing their side throughout. The Red and Gold Brigade will rely on their star studded side, with new signings Madih Talal, Dimitrios Diamantakos, David Lalhlansanga and Jeakson Singh hitting the ground running and with the old guard of Hijazi Maher, Saul Crespo, Mahesh Singh and Cleiton Silva to back them up.
Carles Cuadrat thanked the fans for their support, “For the fans who are travelling I want to let them know that your support is important because it’s going to be a full house stadium tomorrow for this important match”.
On the other hand, Shillong Lajong were impressive in the group stages with a squad almost entirely made up of players from Meghalaya. Captain Hardy Nongbri Cliff, Phrangki Buam and Everbrightson Sana have impressed with their performances. Brazilians Daniel Goncalves and Marcos Rudwere Silva will be critical for the host’s chances of creating an upset in the quarterfinals.
Speaking ahead of the match, Shillong Lajong Head Coach Jose Hevia said, “We have been analysing the game of East Bengal from their previous matches and from our plan and training system, we are “moving the pieces” to have all the chances to cancel the offensive game of East Bengal and to have all the options of scoring, but without losing our “identity” of playing with high intensity, quick movements of the ball, quick attacks that can make them very uncomfortable throughout the match.”
In a repeat of last edition’s quarterfinals, NorthEast United will be up against the challenge of Indian Army FT in the other quarterfinal at the SAI Stadium in Kokrajhar. NorthEast qualified for the knockouts after topping Group E while Indian Army FT knocked out ISL side Jamshedpur FC with a brilliant comeback victory over the hosts in the final all to play group game.
NorthEast United Head Coach Juan Pedro Benali looked confident ahead of the match. “We are ready for the challenge of the quarterfinals. Indian Army are a really good side and it’ll be a great game for everyone to watch. It’s a quarterfinal, so you’ve to be on top of your game because there are no second chances now”, said the Spanish gaffer.
Indian Army will look to live up to the tag of dark-horses and will look to knock another ISL side to book their place in the semi-finals. They are a very compact side who have been playing together for a long time and the NorthEast United side will have to work hard to break their defence. In the last edition, the team from Guwahati reached the semi-finals with a narrow victory against the same side.
“We are well prepared for the match tomorrow against North East United. We have had a good preparation ahead of the match and we will stick on our game plan. We will fight like soldiers tomorrow and come out with a win”, said Indian Army Head Coach Manish Wahi.
NorthEast will hope their attack consisting of Jithin M.S, Parthib Gogoi and Guillermo Fernandez fires against the strong Indian Army defence led by their captain and goalkeeper Bhabindra Malla Thakuri. The Army Men also have a solid attack led by Liton Shil and Samir Murmu who have scored some wonder goals in the tournament.