Three Star had defeated MMC in a tie breaker to lift the title of the British Gurkha Cup. On Saturday, MMC will try to redeem their pride while Three Star will be looking for maintaining their winning run. [break]
MMC had eased past the hosts Sahara Club 4-0 in the semifinal on Wednesday while Three Star toiled hard to make it to the final with a 1-0 win over title favorites Nepal Police Club (NPC) on Thursday.
This is the fifth time that the star-studded MMC with highly paid players have reached the final of the Aaha Gold Cup. They had won the title twice -- a feat none other teams have achieved except five-times winner NPC.
MMC can boast of renowned national players, including the highest paid domestic footballer Santosh Sahukhala who will be playing against his former team Three Star. Sahukhala, the highest scorer of last season´s A Division League, joined MMC from the start of this season.
This is the sixth appearance of Three Star in the tournament but they had defeated MMC in their previous meeting in the title clash of the fifth edition.
Both teams have made their claims for the title.
Three Star´s coach Megh Raj KC says the club has brought players better than four of their players who defected to MMC. "Our team is not the same. There have been lots of changes and we have great players now," he said.
"We have changed the course of the tournament by defeating five-times champions Police Club. The final will also be historic for us," said the coach.
However, the pragmatic coach says they need to apply proper strategy to win. "It is the goal of every team to win the title. Whoever uses proper tactics will win," he added.
MMC coach Bal Gopal Maharjan says he will play attacking game for the victory. "We can change the strategy after watching their game. We have to win the match to ease the pain we suffered during the loss at the final of the British Gurkha Cup," he said.
However, Maharjan is cautious with his opponents who destroyed NPC. "The team which defeated five times champion NPC are not a weak team," he acknowledged.
Maharjan said his side had made some mistakes during the British Gurkha Cup which will not be repeated.
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