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I-League and Federation Cup holders Churchill Brothers host New Radiant Sports Club in the AFC Cup on Tuesday. Sportskeeda profiles the Maldives treble winners.
History
Formed in 1979, New Radiant is the most successful club in Maldives football history. They are one of two clubs to have won every domestic trophy and are also the most popular club in the football-crazy island nation. New Radiant have won the domestic league, which is called the Dhivehi League and was launched in 2000, three times with their most recent title coming last season when they secured the championship by having an incredible 100% record over 19 matches. They ended up winning all the domestic trophies last season with superstar Ali Ashfaq breaking numerous goal-scoring records. Overall, New Radiant have won the Maldives FA Cup 11 times, President’s Cup 10 times and Cup Winners’ Cup four times.
Nicknamed as ‘the Blues’, New Radiant have never managed any continental honours but unlike the majority of Maldives clubs, they have had some great performances in Asian competitions over the years. Back in the ’90s, New Radiant reached the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup Winners’ Cup twice. This will be their sixth appearance in the AFC Cup and they have reached the knockouts on two previous occasions. In 2005, the Maldives outfit became the first South-Asian club to reach the AFC Cup semis, where they were beaten by eventual champions Al Faisaly from Jordan. They reached the quarter-finals last year but suffered a heavy 12-2 aggregate defeat at the hands of eventual winners Kuwait SC.
Current Team
New Radiant will be facing Churchill Brothers without any foreignersPhoto Credit: New Radiant SC
New Radiant started their AFC Cup 2014 campaign with 1-0 victory over Singapore’s Home United on matchday one. Interestingly the six matches of the AFC Cup group stage will be their only fixtures until July as the domestic league has been postponed due to the ongoing renovation work at the National Stadium in Male for the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup. That dearth of competitive action is one of the main reasons why Spanish coach Angel Perez Garcia parted ways with the club earlier this week after only being in charge of one game. There are rumours that Velizar Popov, under whom the club made a clean sweep of all the domestic honours last season, could be appointed as the new permanent head coach but current assistant coach Ismail Anil will be in charge for the Churchill Brothers game.
Since that win against Home United, New Radiant haven’t been in action at all with a friendly against Northern Dyamo FC of Seychelles being their only other match of this calendar year. So the Maldives champions are expected to lack match fitness and caretaker coach Anil will also have to be content with an entirely local squad as the team’s only foreigner, Ghanaian defender Jonathan Quartey, hasn’t made the trip to India due to visa issues. Due the domestic league postponement New Radiant haven’t added any more foreigners but have retained the majority of last season’s highly successful squad that consists of several national team players. They have also added defenders Shafiu Ahmed, Mohamed Rasheed and midfielder Shamveel Qasim. But crucially Maldives national team captain and superstar Ali Ashfaq has left the club and joined Malayasia second tier outfit PDRM FA. New Radiant are possibly the least prepared team in this year’s AFC Cup but they will take confidence from their gritty display against Home United and look to get a positive result in Goa.
Key Players
Shafiu Ahmed
The 25-year-old joined New Radiant from Maziya this season and is considered to be one of the best defenders in Maldives. Shafiu is a highly versatile player but usually operates as a central defender, which is also his role for the national team.
Ali Fasir
The 25-year-old winger is currently in his second spell with the club and another important member of the Maldives national team. Besides creating goals, Fasir is also a good finisher and scored five times in last year’s AFC Cup.
Ibrahim Fazeel
The 33-year-old veteran attacker could start upfront against Churchill Brothers as first-choice centre forward Mohamed Umair is doubtful. Fazeel was instrumental in New Radiant reaching the 2005 semis and now would be aiming to play a key role in the 2014 edition.
