Kings, Mohammedan face off in inaugural Challenge Cup

The 2024-25 football season in Bangladesh will kick off today with the newly-introduced one-off tournament, Bangladesh Challenge Cup, in which current Bangladesh Premier League champions Bashundhara Kings and runners-up Mohammedan SC will square off for the title at the Bashundhara Kings arena in Dhaka.

The tournament is modelled after England's Community Shield, where the league champions take on the FA Cup winners in a one-off game to decide the title.

As Bashundhara Kings had emerged as champions in both the league and the Federation Cup last season, Mohammedan, who had finished as runners-up in both competitions, have been chosen as their opponents in the Challenge Cup.

Kings had also won the Independence Cup last season, in which Mohammedan had finished second.

Kings and Mohammedan were neck and neck in all four matches they played last season, with the Kings coming out on top three times and Mohammedan winning once.

This time, however, Mohammedan will come across a Kings side which looks vulnerable after the departures of Brazilian forwards Robson Robinho and Dorielton Gomes.

Three successive defeats in the AFC Challenge League last month in Bhutan showed the decline in strength of the Kings, however, the five-time BPL champions are still strong enough to thump any local outfits.

"Tomorrow's [today] match is very important for me because the players produced bad results in Bhutan. I have never suffered three successive defeats in my life," Kings' Romanian coach Valeriu Tita said at the pre-final briefing at the Kings arena yesterday.

"After the Bhutan tournament [AFC Challenge League], I prepared the team for tomorrow's [today] match which is going to be a tough game.

"I have confidence in my players who will give their maximum to win the match but it is not an easy job because of the absence of some players," said the veteran coach.

Starting the season with a final is a unique occurrence in Bangladesh football as the local domestic season usually begins with the Independence Cup, which the BFF has decided not to run this season.

Mohammedan SC's coach Alfaz Ahmed was cautiously excited about playing a final against the Kings to begin the season, saying, "We are not used to starting the season with a final because it is going to happen here for the first time. We are looking forward."

Mohammedan SC defender Mehdi Hasan said, "Challenge Cup is a new thing and we are ready to take the new challenge tomorrow [today] because we want to bring the inaugural trophy to the traditional powerhouse Mohammedan SC."