Sherpa, which finished runner-up in the last edition of National League and fifth in the Martyrs Memorial League, has been struggling to get back to form after a miserable run in the current edition of Martyrs League. [break]Not only did the club fail to make it to the top eight of the A division league, but it also had to struggle until the last match to avoid relegation.
Star-studded MMC claimed the title of Ncell Cup in October and Safal Pokhara Cup in November 2012 but has not been able to repeat its earlier exploits of late. The team, considered as one of the favorites to lift the title of Martyrs Memorial League, finished fifth at the end of first round of the league and crashed out in the very first match of Aaha-Rara Gold Cup in Pokhara, prompting coach Krishna Thapa to resign from his post.
The six-time league champion has struggled to live up to its billing since then. During the Aaha-Rara Gold Cup, nine players from the club were in the national team´s closed camp training for the AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers. Of them, only two players were shortlisted for the second phase of training. On the other hand, neither of the two players from Sherpa was able to make the cut in the second phase.
Sherpa coach Meghraj KC described team spirit and hard work as his team´s strengths.
"I think it will be a 50-50 match. We have good team spirit and the players are in high spirits after finishing runner-up in the recently held Udayapur Gold Cup," said KC, who was also in no mood to take the opponent lightly.
"MMC is a good side and better than us on the basis of individual skills. But we have a strong side comprising young players. There´s understanding among the players. We will devise a strategy to take advantage of the opponent´s weaknesses."
MMC´s key player Ganesh Khadka, who was left out of the national squad on Wednesday, said all the players in the team are in their best form and optimistic about lifting the title.
Meanwhile, Tshering Lopsang has taken over as MMC coach following Thapa´s resignation. However, manager Kumar Bhattarai is looking after the team as Lopsang is not in Simara. Bhattarai said he was confident of defending the title.
"If the boys performed as they did in the semifinal, we could defend our title," said Bhattarai. "Our forward line-up is better than that of Sherpa and we also have a stubborn defense," said Bhattarai, referring to Sherpa´s defender Sachindra Dhimal who was sent off in the last match against CMG Club Sankata. Dhimal will miss the final match.
Bhattarai is optimistic about beating Sherpa also because his side had defeated Sherpa 1-0 with a lone goal from Fils Sergio Chico in the league.
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