Bengaluru FC seek a revival of momentum as they take on Lao Toyota away at AFC Cup
BENGALURU FC will be looking to shake-off the bad vibes from the defeat to Mohun Bagan at home by scoring a nice away win against Lao Toyota FC to begin their AFC Cup campaign with.
The Blues have flown to Laos, where the match will be held at the National Sport Complex inside the National University of Laos campus.
Their opponents, Lao Toyota, have recently emerged as a major player in Laos football. After signing up a few experienced players like Saynakhonevieng Phommapanya, Phatthana Syvilay, Phoutdavy Phommasane and Sitthideth Khantavong who have spent some time with the Laos national team, they rose to prominence when they finished runners up in both the Leo Premier League and the Lao FF Cup in 2014. Their good form continued in 2015 and they finally lifted their first league title after a close race with Lanexang United that they won by head-to-head. That victory gained them entry into this year's AFC Cup group stage.
The home team also will put faith in their captain-midfielder Paseuthsack Souliyavong as well as Japanese duo Kazuo Honma and Itsuki Yamada. Honma is one of the top scorers in LPL, and has played top division football in Hungary for decades. Yamada, a defender, did well at Albirex Niigata FC of Singapore in the S-League.
Going up against a team like this, India's Federation Cup winners will miss the services of Eugeneson Lyngdoh, one of the stalwarts of their midfield. Head coach Ashley Westwood is likely to put his faith on Beikhokhei Beingaichho, Thoi Singh and Shakar Sampingraj in his absence. The likes of John Johnson, Curtis Osano and Rino Anto, as usual, will be seen marshalling their defence.
The biggest blow to the Blues is the absence of skipper and striker-in-chief Sunil Chhetri, who has missed out on the trip to Laos due to a groin strain. In his absence, North Korean forward Kim Song-Yong will have the main responsibility to spearhead the BFC attack. It will be interesting to see if Udanta Singh, who has returned from Guwahati after playing for India U-23 in the South Asian Games, gets a start tomorrow.
On paper BFC seem more than capable of dealing with this opponent, and there's little doubt that Westwood will consider anything less than 3 poitns a setback in their mission to make it to the knockout stages. The grouping that Bengaluru FC have received this year - they're in Group H along with Ayeyawady United, Johor Darul Ta'zim and Lao Toyota - is easier than last year and they stand a good chance to finish in the top two bar any accident. Their matches against Johor Darul Ta'zim are the highlights of the group: Johor was the team that knocked BFC out of the AFC Champions League qualifiers last season after a tough fight that lasted till extra time.
But more than anything else, BFC will desperately want to return to winning ways because their form in the I-League has dipped in the last 3 weeks. Defeats away at Mumbai FC and at home to Sporting Clube de Goa and title race rivals Mohun Bagan have seen them drop to third in the league table. The squad has had more than a week's time after their loss to Bagan to rest and regroup and their fans will hope that a victory abroad serves as the perfect rejuvenation pill for their campaign back home when the second half of the I-League season is set rolling in the weekend.
