FA Cup Final Preview – A clash of Army offense and Blue Star defense

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All roads will lead to Sugathadasa Stadium as Army SC take on Blue Star SC from Kalutara in the FA Cup Final on the 22nd of February. It will be a mouth watering clash as the best team in defense and offense in this year’s Cargills Food City FA Cup will meet to fight it out for the prestigious trophy.

Army’s road to the final

Army has been a dominant force in the local football arena for the past few years mainly due to the country’s best striker in Mohammed Issadeen around which the Army team is build. Army had a hard fight against Solid SC but toped Group B in last year’s Dialog Champions League scoring the most amount of goals from both groups but failed to go past the Quarter Finals at the hands of the eventual winners Navy SC. Issadeen was the golden boot winner in that tournament with 22 goals. Incidentally he was the golden boot winner in the two previous seasons as well.

Army’s road to the FA Cup Final started from the Pre Quarter final where they played a thriller against Solid SC. The scores were 3 all at full time but they won 4-3 on penalties. Army who were minus Issadeen and Madushan De Silva had another nail bitter in the quarter final when they were again taken into penalties by little known SLTB side. Kumara Sirisena’s goalkeeping heroics sent them to the semi finals. Issadeen returning from injury scored a brace as they defeated Colombo FC 2-1 to book a place in the final.

The attacking triplet of Madushan De Silva, Sajith Kumara and Mohammed Issadeen will pose a huge threat to the Blue Star defense that will be missing Nasiru Opayemi due to a suspension. It is not only Army’s attack that has impressed but also the defense. Captain Bandara Warakagoda has been immense at the heart of the defense marshalling his men and had a outstanding semi final where he nullified the rampant A.C. Frank of Colombo FC. Also their goalkeeper Kumara Sirisena the hero of two penalty shootouts as well as a commanding goalkeeping display in the semi final.

Blue Star’s road to the final

Blue Star also had an outstanding Dialog Champions League with a superlative defensive display. They were beaten 1-0 by Renown in the semi final of that tournament. However they avenged that defeat in the pre quarter final of the FA Cup when they beat Renown with the same scoreline. Blue Star eased through to the semi final with a 3-0 win over Don Bosco. In the semi final they were taken into a penalty shootout by Navy SC but Captain Manjula Fernando stood firm as they won 3-1 on penalties.

Blue Star will have the services of Nigerian forwards in Afeez Olayemi and Arubishan Daniel who has been exceptional this season scoring much needed goals to complement a rocksolid defense. Their star player however, Nasiru Opayemi the towering defender will miss the final after he received an ill advised red card in the semi final. Opayemi has been solid in defense and also scored many a headed goal this season taking advantage of his height. Blue Star will badly miss the services of Opayemi in the final.

Captain Mohamed Ramez and his defense will have their work cut to contain the Army attacking trio in the absence of Opayemi. Also the Blue Stars custodian former Sri Lankan goalkeeper Manjula Fernando has been exceptional between the posts and saved three penalties off Navy in the semis to take Blue Stars to the final. Blue Star’s 12th man will be the ever passionate, diehard fans from Kalutara. These fans travel in their numbers to where ever their team is playing to support, the crowd at the quarter final in Matara is a good example. The fans will do their best to fill the hole created by the suspension of Opayemi and will be sure to fight until their last breath for their beloved team.

Qatar referee to whistle the Final

History will be rewritten when Qatar FIFA elite referee – Abdurahuman Al Jassim officiate the Cargills Food City FA Cup Final. The fans will be sure to witness the refereeing of the highest quality.

This is the first time in the 75 year Sri Lankan football history a foreign referee will officiate a grand final in Sri Lanka. This is the result of the Referees Exchange Program initiated by the FFSL President Ranjith Rodrigo with Qatar Football President H.E Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Bin Ahmad Al Thani during his recent visit to Qatar.

On completion of this final, some of the Sri Lankan referees are set to fly Doha to officiate in the Qatar top leagues games. “This is the great opportunity for our referees to gain experience at professional leagues and improve their talents” said Sri Lankan football chief Ranjith Rodrigo.

Sri Lankan Referees have excelled in world football while our refereeing legend Nimal Wickramathunghe officiated at FIFA World Cup Finals – FRANCE 1998 for the first time in South Asian history.

Top Referee Instructors – Deshapriya, Anura Silva, Jamaldeen and Jaswar Umar are closely working with the top referees in their preparation for the exchange program with Qatar.