By Emmerson Campbell
Football fans will be in for a Christmas treat today when two of the top local clubs Alpha United and Pele tackle BV Triumph and Silver Shattas respectively for a chance to clinch semi final berths in this year’s Kashif and Shanghai tournament.
The GFC Ground will come alive tonight as the star-studded tournament favourites, Alpha United, will look to move closer to the $4M first prize while BV Triumph will be looking to unwrap a Christmas upset.
Pele, coming off a lopsided 6-0 victory over Buxton Stars in their opening match, will look to continue their winning ways while Silver Shattas, who defeated Uitvlugt United on penalties on Sunday, will also be plotting an upset.
According to Alpha’s head coach, Wayne Dover, his side is confident of winning
on the opposition’s home turf but will not be over confident against the less celebrated side.
“The players and the staff are both confident of a victory,” said Dover during an interview with Stabroek Sport.
“We are aware that we will be on their (B.V Triumph) home turf and that the home side enjoys the advantage of the energy of the crowd which can make a major difference, but at the end of the day it’s who executes better wins the game.”
He added:”We feel that we have the man power to execute and get the job done but we are not taking them lightly by any means so we will be playing our hearts out tomorrow,” Dover assured.
Meanwhile, national star forward and Pele’s star player, Gregory ‘Jackie Chan’ Richardson told this publication yesterday that his side will be treating each game like it’s a final.
Said Richardson “We are not taking any team for granted, we are treating every game like its a final because our team is one of the biggest teams in the country. Every team comes at us with their all, so we will be doing whatever the coach tells us and go out there for the victory.”
The prolific goal scorer who netted a hat-trick against Buxton Stars added that despite the inclement weather, Pele, was making the most of their resources and was focused on a victory.
“The rain is affecting us big time because we are not getting to train as we want to but we are making the most of what we have because we have to continue what we have to do to win tomorrow despite the conditions,” Richardson declared.
Action starts at 18:30hrs.
