Machhindra Football Club will face Bhutanese league champion Paro Football Club in the playoffs under the preliminary selection of the AFC Cup on Thursday at Dashrath Stadium at 5:30 PM.

Machhindra, the A Division League runners-up, qualified for the AFC Cup after league champions Church Boys were denied an AFC club license. Machindra had lost to Sri Lanka’s Blue Star Sports Club in the last edition of the AFC Cup.

The club has added eight players, including the young stars of the national team, to the team that played in the league this time. Machhindra has included winger Ashish Chaudhary and midfielder Eric Bista of the league champion Church Boys in the group. Apart from this, national team midfielder Laken Limbu, winger Ayush Ghalan and defender Sanish Shrestha have also come to Machhindra.

Rejin Subba is also in Machindra along with Mesouke Olomaou, a foreign player from the relegated club Khumaltar. Rejin played an essential role in winning the league title in the last edition for Machhindra. There is a possibility that Mesuke will not play tomorrow’s game as his paperwork still needs to be completed.

Paro’s defender Florent Koara previously played for Javalakhel Youth Club. Coach KC said Florent is a good player, but his attack is more vigorous. I also spent some time with him. But I think our attack can give him problems,” KC said.

Club captain Bishal Shrestha has played in the group stage of the AFC Cup once before. He played against Chennaiyin FC, Abhani and Minerva Punjab in the group stage of 2019 from Manang. Even when Machhindra was eliminated from the playoffs in the previous edition, Bishal was the goalkeeper.

Captain Bishal said that Paro would not be taken lightly. Paro is the champion team of Bhutan. It cannot be considered so weak. Some players play for the national team of Bhutan and foreigners. Let’s hope that we will get good results,” he said.

Bishal said this game would also be essential to increase interest in club football. After the end of the league, there has not been much activity in Nepali football. The spectators will come to tomorrow’s game. It is an evening game; we expect a large attendance,” said goalkeeper Bishal.

Paro’s coach Pushpalal Sharma said that although Machhindra is not the champion of Nepal, it is an excellent team. Machhindra is a good team. There are also national team players. We will play to get positive results,” he said.

Team captain Kinley Wangchuk said his focus is only on the match against Machindra. “For now, our focus is on Machindra’s game. “Our focus will be on the next game only after the result of this game,” he said.

Machhindra has continued 15 players who played in the A division. While Captain Bishal Shrestha is a regular in the team, Pradeep Bhandari is the second goalkeeper, and Luz Maharjan is the third goalkeeper.

Forwards Bimal Gharti Magar, Afiz Olawale, Saurav Limbu, Abhishek Gurung and Bijay Bhujel are in the team. Midfielders Andres Nia, Dipesh Ghale and Utsav Rai are also regulars. Omolaja Karim, Devendra Tamang, Diwakar Chaudhary, Chhiring Gurung and Suraj Bk are also in the defense.

The ticket price for the game is 200 rupees for general and 500 rupees for VIPs. It is said that tickets for the match can be purchased through Iseva.

The winner of tomorrow’s match will face Mohun Bagan Super Giant on August 16. Machindra will play against the winner of Club Eagles and Dhaka Abhani in the playoff finals on August 22 if they march forward in the competition.