AFC Cup qualifiers: K-Electric target win in must-win encounter

The Pakistan side will face Mongolia’s Khoromkhon FC on Thursday.

KARACHI: Pakistan Premier Football League (PPFL) champions K-Electric will take on Mongolia’s Khoromkhon in their must-win Group A encounter at the 2016 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup qualifiers on Thursday.

The team drew its first match against hosts Druk United FC 3-3 on Tuesday and  requires a win in its next match to keep its chances of qualification alive.

Team manager Zabe Khan also emphasised on the importance of the encounter, stating that anything less than a win is unacceptable.

“We are motivated and we know we need to win as there is no other way,” Zabe told The Express Tribune. “We scored some good goals in our previous match and hopefully we can better that performance.”

Khoromkhon, who are the reigning Mongolian champions, have a strong team which includes the likes of defender Tsetsenbaataryn Darambayar, American-born-Guamian midfielder Jonahan Romero, Khürelbaataryn Tsend-Ayuush, midfielder Gongorjavyn Davaa-Ochir and forward Jargalyn Tsatsral.

And Zabe said that their opponents have at least two foreign players, one from Cameroon and another from Slovenia.

Meanwhile, KE are relying on a mix of youth and experienced players, including former national striker Essa Khan, who played in the midfield in the last game and Muhammad Rasool, the highest scorer in the last PPFL season.

Rasool, a Chitral-based striker, scored two goals in the previous match against Druk United, while the squad also boasts a strong attacking threat in two Nigerian players, Sunday Abayomi Oludeyi and Abayomi Wilson.

The top team from the group of three will qualify for the next round.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 13^th, 2015.

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