Kings eye rare treble, Mohammedan look for 12th

Favourites Bashundhara Kings will look to add a new feather to their burgeoning cap when they take on defending champions Mohammedan in the final of the Federation Cup at the Rafique Uddin Bhuiyan Stadium in Mymensingh today.

The match will get underway at 3:00pm, with T-Sports telecasting the match live.

Even though Kings have almost turned into an unstoppable force since their introduction to country's top-flight football in 2018, they have not been able to win a treble. That feat is held solely by Sheikh Russel KC, who won all three domestic titles in the 2012-13 season.

With the season's Independence Cup and the Bangladesh Premier League titles in the bag, Kings have the chance to do the same, after failing to win three titles in the same season in six previous attempts.

However, Kings must overcome the hurdle of defending champions Mohammedan, who will look to end the season with a trophy and go on top of Federation Cup's overall winners' chart alongside archrivals Abahani with 12.

"We truly believe in ourselves, in the trust in each other, in the technical and tactical automatisms and we will leave everything we have out in that final game," Kings coach Oscar Bruzon told reporters on the eve of the final. "We are eager to achieve all the club goals when they decided we are the main actors to go for it."

"Every game is different from the previous one due to multiple factors, but our rivals have been consistent in their game idea throughout the season. They have a packed defence, defend by numbers the central areas, use high wing-backs and mobile and physical players upfront," the Spaniard said, assessing the opposition's playing style.

Statistics put Kings much ahead of Mohammedan as they have won 10 matches, drew twice and lost only three in 15 meetings between the two sides. However, all three defeats against Mohammedan have in the last two years, under the guidance of Alfaz Ahmed.

"We all want to wrap up our campaign by winning the season's last trophy and we will go to tomorrow's final with a determination to be champions," the Mohammedan coach told The Daily Star. "Everyone knows Kings are the best team in the country, but we know how to play against them and how to beat them."

Kings will rely on their three Brazilian forwards -- Dorielton Gomes (19 goals), Miguel Ferriera (10 goals), Robson Robinho (9 goals) – as well as local forward Rakib Hossain (10 goals) in bid to win the treble while Mohammedan will be looking up to Souleymane Diabate (15 goals), Muzaffarov (9 goals), Emmanuel Sunday (6 goals) and local forward Jafar Iqbal (8 goals) to defend the title.

Fed Cup titles won: MSC 11, Kings 2
 

Head-to-head this season
Played Kings won MSC won Draw
3           2                1              0
Head-to-head overall
15        10               3             2
Club's top-scorer this season:
Kings: Dorielton Gomes (19)
MSC: Souleymane Diabate (15)