AFC Cup
BU's Asian test today
Sports Reporter
Brothers Union will make their debut in a top level competition under Asian Football Confederation today when the National and Dhaka Premier League champions host Turkmenistan's Nisa FC in an AFC Cup first round fixture.The match kicks off at 4 pm at the Bangabandhu National Stadium but it was uncertain till yesterday evening whether the game would be played at all. However, a 14-member Nisa team including one official flew into the capital in the evening ending an anxious wait for Bangladesh Football Federation officials and AFC match commissioner Mohammed Muzammel. The official had earlier said he was prepared to wait till the last minute for Nisa. Brothers will be looking to start 2005 on the back of a glorious last season. The Gopibagh outfit trained for the past two months under new coach Wajed Gazi but manager Amer Khan still thinks they will be short of match practice. "We've not played any competitive football in the last six months following the National League," said Amer. "We don't have any idea about our opponents and even the ground looks new to the players," said the former Brothers midfielder referring to the BNS where the pitch has been redone for football. "It looks under-prepared and I'm really not sure how they will respond," he added. National defender Mohammed Sujan, who has been given the captain's armband this season, however, has the experience of playing against Nisa. "I played against them for Muktijoddha as a guest player in both the home and away matches. They are a good team but I think we have trained enough well," Sujan said. Brothers have played three warm-up matches last week and beat Bangladesh Army 2-0, Aram-bagh 1-0 and Farashganj 1-0. They are pinning hopes on Russian forward Victor Edward, who played a vital role in their two triumphant campaigns last season. Their other foreign recruit is the combative Moroccan midfielder Hisham Inani, who is expected to fill playmaker Arman Mia's role. Brothers have already announ-ced their line-up with six new faces. Defender Jewel Rana and striker Topu though have been ruled out due to injury. Four Iranian referees have already arrived in the city to conduct the game. BROTHERS UNION: Mohammed Ali, Siraji, Sujan, Shuvra, Masud Rana, Abul, Inani, Pranotosh, Parvez Babu, Edward and Khokon.
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