Essa confident ahead of AFC Cup play-offs qualifiers

KARACHI: K-Electric football captain Mohammad Essa on Friday said he was confident that his side would perform well in the 2016 AFC Cup play-offs qualifiers Group A to be held in Bhutan from August 11-15.
“Our group is easy and I hope we will easily move ahead,” Essa told ‘The News’ from Multan. “The Mongolian club is weak. Our match against Bhutan’s club will be important but I am optimistic that we will beat them and qualify for the play-offs,” Essa said.
K-Electric have been placed in Group A with Bhutan’s Druk United and Mongolia’s Khoromkhon FC.
Bhutan will host the group matches.
K-Electric will face Druk United on August 11 and Khoromkhon FC on August 13.
Five-time Kyrgyzstan’s champions Alga FC have been placed in Group B with Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club of Bangladesh and Casa Benfica of Macau. The group slots will be held in Bishkek.
The winners of each group will move into the next year’s play-offs.
Karachi-based players of K-Electric have been training here at the People’s Sports Complex for the last one month.
“We have 16 players in the camp who are in good shape,” K-Electric coach Akbar Ali told ‘The News’.
“Due to the extreme heat at the start of Ramadan we stopped the camp for a few days. After the weather turned better we started it again,” Akbar said.
“Soon after Eid-ul-Fitr we plan to hold a camp at Steel Town where we will be joined by our seven outstationed players,” Akbar said.
When quizzed, Akbar said a two-week camp would be enough. “I think it’s sufficient time to prepare. Already majority of our players are in practice while the rest are mature enough and must have focussed on their fitness in their home towns,” Akbar said.
“I think we should top the group.”
K-Electric are also seriously pursuing contracts with a couple of England-based players, including Shani Abbas who was part of Pakistan team for the 2010 China Asian Games.
K-Electric Sports Manager Zabe Khan told this correspondent that no contract had been finalised yet. “Things will be finalised by Monday,” he said.
However, he hoped that Oludeyi Abayomi Sunday and Wilson Segun of Nigeria would be part of K-Electric for Bhutan’s affair. “We will soon get NOC for them and will then apply for visas,” Zabe said.
After playing a key role in K-Electric’s achievement in the Premier League last season, the Nigerian duo was unable to feature in the National Challenge Cup because of NOCs issue.
K-Electric’s effort to negotiate a deal with Denmark-based Pakistan striker Hassan Bashir proved futile. “We cannot offer what Hassan demands,” Zabe said.
He added that Bhutan’s football authorities had asked them for sending copies of passports and photographs of the players and officials.
This would be the first international assignment for K-Electric who recorded their maiden league title last season.
WAPDA and KRL have already played in the third-tier Asian club championship which was afterwards named the AFC President’s Cup.
Last year the confederation opened the doors for more Member Associations to participate in the continent’s flagship event, the AFC Champions League, and the ever-improving AFC Cup.