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Mohammedan Sporting Club will have their task cut out when they take on Dempo SC in a crunch Group D encounter of the 35th Federation Cup at the MDSC Sports Complex in Manjeri on Monday evening.
While a draw would be enough for Dempo to qualify from the Group courtesy of better goal difference which will come into play if the teams cannot be separated on head-to-head count, Mohammedan Sporting will be needing a victory to harbour hopes of a last-four berth.
“It’s a must win for us tomorrow, as simple as that,” Mohammedan Sporting’s senior pro and former AIFF Player of the Year Syed Rahim Nabi said.
“Dempo knows that a draw will be enough for them. So they may settle for it but we have to be on our toes all the time and pounce on any opportunity that comes our way. Remember the Myanmar match in the AFC Qualifiers where we (India) needed a draw to qualify. Things turned on its head drastically in the last fifteen minutes,2 added the versatile footballer.
Dempo SC and Mohammedan Sporting have won both their matches so far and it will go to who has the last laugh on Monday in a virtual knockout tie. Dempo though will be missing the services of Tolgay Ozbey who will not be able to line-up against his former club owing to mutual agreement.
Asked whether that will ease the pressure somewhat, Nabi said, “It hardly matters. Even if Cristiano Ronaldo lines-up against us tomorrow, we have to win.”
Head Coach Sanjoy Sen echoed Nabi. “Tolgay is not our headache. We should rather concentrate on oiling our machine as we need to give that extra bit on the field tomorrow to book a semifinal berth.”
“It will be a great achievement for a club who has just been promoted to the top tier to reach the semis. My sole target is the last-four stage now,” Sen added.
Sen’s counterpart Australian tactician Arthur Papas affirmed that his side are under no illusions of having an advantage over their rivals. “We cannot go into the match thinking about a draw. More often than not these strategies fall flat. We will go all out for a win and look to continue the winning momentum which is most important.”
Both the sides have no injury concerns. For Dempo, either of Jeje Lalpekhlua, Alwyn George or Holicharan Narzary may replace Ozbey upfront with Roberto Mendes Silva as the support striker.
