Renown eye a repeat but Airmen determine to upset
View(s):Air Force Sports Club will stand a rare opportunity to grab their first-ever renowned silverware in football when they take on former champions Renown Sports Club in the Dialog Champions League 2013 final showdown which will be played at Kalutara today. The curtains of the longest running top league football championship will come down at the Vernon Fernando Stadium in Kalutara with the kickoff time scheduled at 3.30pm.
The DCL 2013 which featured 20 top football clubs of Sri Lanka began on May 4 and ran for over 34 weeks after completing 180 league-round matches and six knockout games before today’s deciding game. Air Force SC, one of the recognised football clubs in Sri Lanka
Air Force team: First row (from left): Nipuna Bandara, Kavindu Ishan, Subash Fernando, Harsha Fernando, Dimuthu Lakmal Back row (from left): Chaminda Fernando, S. Srikanth, Ruwan Prabath (GK), Chathuranga Lankesara, T.M. Bandara, Dilshan Fernando (Captain)
yet to win a champions league title will definitely go out with their heads held high after ousting favourites Army SC in the quarterfinals and dark horses Solid SC in the semi-final played last Tuesday. This will be a perfect outing for the Airmen, who were denied the football’s biggest plum four years ago by the same opponents, as they seek sweet revenge in an expected do-or-die clash.
In contrast Renown, undoubtly the favourites in today’s battle will have all odds on their court but at the same rate they will be under tremendous pressure. Renown, who will take on Air Force after many months, will be definitely keen not to feel the wrath of their opponents. But they will be in high moral after beating star studded outfits of Blue Stars in the quarterfinals before putting a complete end to the progress of Don Bosco in the semi-final on Saturday. Their forte will be the terrific form of their skipper Mohamed Fazal who slammed both goals against Don Bosco and the skills of their custodian Nigerian Lawrence Prince. With all these plus points Renown will seek a repeater of 2009 at today’s game.
Unlike in 2009 where the final has decided on penalties after Air Force and Renown were locked at two goals each at fulltime, spectators can expect an even fierce battle. Though Air Force has a slight disadvantage, the way they achieved their contrasting wins in the knockout stage, they will be fully satisfied to hold the underdog’s tag. For Airmen their win against pre-tournament favourites,
Renown team: First row (from left): Dilan Kaushalya, Mohamed Shamil, Mohamed Nafeer, Fazul Rahuman, Mohamed Fazal (Captain). Back rown (from left): Mohamed Hakeem, Mohamed Sameer, Lawrence Prince (GK), Mohamed Rizni, Munner Sally, Raja Jenson
Army in the quarterfinal came as a total delight, after a hard-fought battle, but driving out tournament rookies and dark horses Solid SC who came all the way from Anuradhapura, from the competition will be a greater achievement, similar to wining the final. At the same time Air Force is one of the sides in the competition not to field any foreigners.
On the other hand the combination of crafty dribblers Nipuna Bandara, Kavindu Ishan and Chaminda Fernando will be dangerous as they possess the ability to put any defense line in disarray in order to create scoring opportunities. Ishan so far
The Trophy that Renown and Air Force battle for
has scored eight goals and Bandara has struck six goals for Air Force and much will rely on their form. The form of young Air Force goalkeeper Ruwan Prabath is also an added advantage for them. Prabath’s performance has quite impressive throughout the tournament and beating him will be a tough task for the Renown strikers. Similarly Renown’s Nigerian goalkeeper Prince too has a pair of safe hands and he is a master in high and long kick collections.
Skipper Fazal will definitely look forward to fire out his potential as he did in the semi-final as well as the quarterfinal clashes. The lofty and habitually reliable Air Force defenders will definitely have something special for Fazal today. The combination of Fazal, Mohamed Riyal and Dilan Jayasuriya could turn out to be dangerous if merge well. So far Fazal has scored 15 goals and Riyal has a tally of six goals for Renown.
On paper Renown will have the better odds than Air Force. After 18 league round games Renown has won 10 drawn five and lost three to finish second in Group ‘B’ next to table leaders Army. They have scored 33 goals and conceded 23 collecting a total of 35 points. They beat Blue Star by 1-0 in the quarterfinal and Don Bosco by 2-0 in the semi-final with skipper Fazal firing all three goals. On the other hand Air Force finished fourth in Group ‘A’ behind Colombo FC, Ratnam and Blue Star. They played 18, won eight, drew four and lost six, scoring a total of 24 goals and conceding 17, to finish with 28 points. They beat Army in the quarters and Solid SC in the semi-final by the similar margin 2-1.
From the spectators’ point of view the final is expected to attract thousands of football fans to the Vernon Fernando Stadium in Kalutara with a quality battle guaranteed. The winner will walk away with the prestigious Dialog Champions League 2013 trophy and a cash award of Rs. 750,000 while the runner-up is guaranteed of a cash prize of Rs. 500,000. The DCL 2013 during its course to the final becomes a unique competition as some of its games managed to attract nearly 7000 spectators. Football fans in Kurunegala, Nawalapitiya, Matara, Kalutara, Anuradapura, Beruwala, Wennapuwa, Negombo and Colombo were given a total of 16,000 minutes of exciting play since May to December. Over 20 foreign players mainly from the African continent represented 16 of 20 teams adding glamour to the competition. – NA