Indian representative East Bengal Club will face Indonesia’s Semen Padang in the quarterfinals of the 2013 AFC Cup as per the draw carried out at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia today. The two sides would meet on September 17 and 24 in a home-and-away format with East Bengal Club having a home game in the first leg, while the red-and-gold will have to travel to Indonesia for the return tie.
Semen Padang had topped their preliminary Group E ahead of Kitchee SC of Hong Kong, India’s Churchill Brothers and Warrior FC of Singapore.
In the pre-quarterfinals, East Bengal had won convincingly won 5-1 against Yangon United of Myanmar, while Semen Padang had overcome Vietnam’s SHB Ðà N?ng 2-1 in the one-off playoff.
India is being represented in the AFC Cup quarterfinals by Kolkata giants East Bengal Club, who have been impressive at the continental level in the first half of the season. One can only hope that with new coach Marcos Antonio Falopa of Brazil and some changes to their squad, the red-and-gold can continue their success in the quarterfinals in September 2013.
2013 AFC Cup – Quarterfinals
Al Qadsia (Kuwait) – Al Shorta (Syria)Kitchee SC (Hongkong) – Al Faisaly (Jordan)New Radiant (Maldives) – Kuwait SC (Kuwait)East Bengal Club (India) – Semen Padang (Indonesia)