ATK Mohun Bagan head coach Antonio López Habas on Friday announced the squad for their AFC Cup Inter-Zone semi-final against FC Nassaf in Uzbekistan after several tests at a camp in Dubai. Some changes have been made in the team playing in Group D, South Zone in Maldives last month. Finnish central midfielders Joni Kouko, Michael Sousairaj and Prabir Das have been included in the squad. However, Hugo Baumus is not part of the 22-man squad that impressed everyone in the Maldives.
The players in the squad for the tie (scheduled for September 22) are Amarinder Singh, Avilash Paul, Arsh Shaikh, Pritam Kotal, Ashutosh Mehta, Carl McHugh, Subhasish Bose, Sumit Rathi, Jonny Kouco, Lenny Rodrigues, Liston Colaco , Prabir Das, Michael Susairaj, Vidyanand Singh, N Ingson Singh, SK Sahil, Ravi Bahadur Rana, Abhishek Dhananjay Suryavanshi, Roy Krishna, David Williams, Manveer Singh and Kian Nasiri.
ATK Mohun Bagan’s star striker Roy Krishna believes they will face a tough challenge against the Uzbek side.
“It is going to be a tough match but we are preparing ourselves as much as we can to face the challenge. The club needs to win the next match to advance to the next stage. For me personally, it will be a great achievement if we can go all the way, so I am confident that we will be able to come up with a win despite having a home advantage.
“Overall, it is going to be a tough match as they have some good overseas players and they have already started their league, which means by the time we have a match, they have at least something in their belt. Monthly training. It will be a challenge to compete with a well trained team like them, but we are preparing as much as we can to win it. We are going to Uzbekistan to give our all,” Krishna told the ATKMB media team.
ATK Mohun Bagan comfortably beat fellow Indian Super League (ISL) team Bengaluru FC (2-0) and Maldives’ Majia Sports and Recreation (3-1) to comfortably top Group D (South Zone) Bangladesh. 1-1 draw with Bashundhara Kings. Advance to the Inter-Zone Semi-Finals.
Krishna, the 2020/21 “Hero of the League” said after scoring 14 goals and providing eight assists, “I think my biggest lesson (from the group stage) is not to underestimate any team. The focus is on one match at a time. We are playing with the best from the division groups so they are coming fully prepared. That means we need to step up our game and fitness level. Some teams made it to the playoffs on the back of winning their major leagues properly.
“When we went to Maldives we had only gathered for a couple of weeks because of travel restrictions, so it was a great learning opportunity. Most of us couldn’t get together because of restrictions in our countries that didn’t allow us to travel outside the country and it took a long time to convince the authorities, which meant we only had a week or more to train. There was more time. But it’s been over a month now so we’ve had some good training and our fitness level is up.”
Krishna, who scored two goals in the group stage, also made it clear that scoring was not the only thing on his mind.
“My motive is mainly to help the team win and if I get a chance to score, I will score. If I can help any other player on the team, I will do the same. The ultimate goal is to help the team win, even if it sometimes means defending to protect their goalmouths,” he added.
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