AFC Cup: Churchill Brothers without key players, but want to finish on a high

I-League leaders Churchill Brothers SC face Indonesian side Semen Padang in their final Group E Round 6 match of the AFC Cup at the Agus Salim Stadium in Padang tomorrow at 3.30pm Indonesia local. The Red Machines are out of the competition with only four points, while Semen Padang are top of the group with 13 points. At the pre-match press conference, Head Coach Willy Moraes said, “We are fully prepared for this match. We do know the strengths and weaknesses of Semen Padang since we played them in Pune, where we played out a 2 2 draw.”

“Even though we are out of the AFC Cup, this match involves the prestige of the club, we will be surely fighting for 3 points. The team has already practiced and we are hoping for a good game from our side tomorrow.”

The team being out of the AFC Cup, the focus is on the I-League with two more points needed to seal the title; therefore a number of the clubs key players in Denzil Franco, Dharmaraj Ravanan, Lamine Tamba, Lenny Rodrigues, Roberte Mendes Silva, Sunil Chhetri and Henry Arnaud Antchouet Rebienot have not made the trip to Indonesia.

“We haven’t travelled with our full strength squad since we have an important I-league match on the 7th (of May). We will be missing Beto, Sunil Chhetri, Lamine Tamba, Henri Antchouet, Denzil Franco, Lenny Rodrigues, Ravanan D., but I however believe this team is capable of getting us a good result,” Willy Moraes added.

But Churchill Brothers want to properly end their 2013 AFC Cup campaign and be better prepared for next year’s competition.

“Semen Padang top the group and are a very good team, they did not have any of their foreign contingent the last time they played us and I’m expecting a tough game tomorrow,” Willy Moraes concluded.

Meanwhile tomorrow’s captain Jaison Vales said, “Our target is to win tomorrow’s match. The boys will give their best and play for pride.”

CHURCHILL BROTHERS SC

GoalkeepersFelix D’Souza, Lalit Thapa

DefendersGurtej Singh, Sanjay Balmachu, Thangjam Saran Singh, Yumnam Raju Mangang, Naveen Kumar, Lionel Rodrigues

MidfieldersRichard Costa, Steven Benedic Dias, Amandeep Singh, Asley Fernandes, Jaison Vales, Biswajit Biswas, Israil Gurung

ForwardsT. Bineesh Balan, Ajay Singh, Belal Arezou

OfficialsWilly Moraes (Head Coach), Danzie Ferrao (Manager), Anupkumar Yadav (Physio), Watson Fernandes (Media Manager)