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The 2012 AFC Cup campaign ended for Salgaocar SC and East Bengal Club the way it had started with another loss. While the Goans have at least a win and a draw to their name, the Kolkata giants lost all their six matches; which does leave questions about the standard of Indian clubs and/or the seriousness of Indian participants in the competition though Indian clubs as I-League champions have been eyeing the AFC Champions League qualifiers.
Uzbekistan’s FC Neftchi easily beat Salgaocar SC 3-0 at home on Tuesday to take revenge for a surprise two-all draw in Goa back in March. Neftchi finished second on 11 points, while Salgaocar finished fourth and last with four points.
The Uzbeks made the perfect start when striker Pavel Smolyachenko gave them a first minute lead and it was Smolyachenko again who doubled Neftchi’s lead five minutes into the second half as the striker bounced to turn home following an error from Salgaocar defender Nicolau Colaco. And with 13 minutes remaining Anvar Berdiev’s third goal of the campaign and also the match sealed Neftchi’s third win in Group D before Salgaocar’s Ahmed Ishfaq was sent-off in stoppage time.
“Despite injuries to several players I am happy that we put up a good show with whatever was available with to us,” said Neftchi coach Yuri Sarkisan.
“We were not under any pressure as we had already qualified and we played for the spectators today. Although Salgaocar played well, I felt their defence was weak.”
“It was a tough match for us, especially since we have been travelling for the past six days. First it was for our last league (I-League) match and now for the AFC Cup match,” said Salgaocar coach Karim Bencherifa.
“To add to that, half of my team is injured, and many of my key players like (Lamare) Rocus and Gilbert (Oliveira) did not play today. I also want to say that these are not any excuses but these are facts. However, I feel we could have done much better today,” Karim ended.
Kolkata giants were on the verge of picking-up their first point of this AFC Cup campaign, but in the end had to settle for a 1-2 defeat against Kazma from Kuwait. While Kazma finished second on 11 points, East Bengal finished last with no points to their name.
Ismail Al Ajmi had given the visitors an early 8th minute lead at the Saltlake Stadium but the red-and-golds Brazilian striker Edmilson Marques Pardal struck in the 18th minute of a rebound to draw level. But the home side suffered a severe blow when young wing-back Saikat Saha Roy was sent off in the 35th minute but Kazma failed to make the extra man count until Masahri Al Azmi struck in the first time of injury time to secure the three points.
“We were lucky to win but it was absolutely cruel to play in the heat and humidity of Kolkata,” said experienced Kazma coach Milan Macala.
“We fought well with 10 men as the boys played their heart out,” said East Bengal coach Trevor Morgan.
“Their performance despite their intensive travelling was indeed commendable,” Trevor added.
