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| AFC Cup |
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| Third time lucky for Dempo |
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| Dempo's Nigerian forward Ranti Martins celebrates as he scores his second goal against Oman's Sur. |
MARGAO – Dempo coach Mauricio Afonso was delighted to see his side finally earn a spot in the AFC Cup quarter-finals after the Indian champions scored a resounding 5-2 victory over Omani side Sur on Wednesday.
A pair of goals by Nigerian forwards Ranti Martins and Chidi Edeh and a sweet strike by Climax Lawrence secured the points for the Indian side, who moved to the top of Group A, pending the result of the postponed match between Al Muharraq of Bahrain and Al Ansar of Lebanon
However, Dempo have clinched a place in the knockout stage as one of the three best group runners-up at the very least.
Dempo failed to get past the AFC Cup group stage in 2005 and 2006 and Afonso was pleased to finally see them earn a place in the last eight.
“We qualified for the AFC Cup twice previously but we struggled and never got through to the quarter-finals,” he said.
“However, I think that the players have all given their best this year and we deserved to go through.
“They have shown good character. We lost 4-0 at home to Muharraq but went to Bahrain two weeks later and beat them 2-1, which was a very good result.
“The hard work of the players has paid off. I am only there to guide them and they are the bosses on the pitch.”
Afonso felt that his team’s qualification was not only good for the club but for Indian football as a whole.
“To qualify for the last eight is a very big boost for Indian football because it is coming up nicely now.
“Indian media attention has grown in football and as far as today’s match is concerned, we dominated the game and played well.
“I now hope that we can get a good draw so that we can make further progress.”
Sur’s Tunisian coach Ahmed Lakhadar was disappointed with his side’s poor opening half as they went two goals behind and a man down when Talal Mohammed Al Saifi was sent off for a two-footed tackle on Beto.
Substitute Mohammed Salim Al Sinani and skipper Mohsin Saleh Al Harbi narrowed the gap in the second half but Sur finished with only nine men when goalkeeper Ahmed Khamis Al Qulhati was also sent off.
"The two goals in the first half upset our plans. It put pressure on our players and spoilt our chances of getting a result," said Lakhadar.
"The sending-off right before half-time also affected us. Our players were confused and upset," he added.
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