Bishkek, September 18:

Nepal Police Club (NPC) are looking forward to avenge their previous two defeats when they take on Dordoi Dynamo of Kyrgyzstan in the semi-finals of the AFC President’s Cup here on Friday.

“We are here to win,” said Nepal Police coach Birat Krishna Shrestha adding that they were trying to at least repeat last year’s success when they reached the final. The reigning Nepali league champions NPC were beaten 1-2 by the same opponent in final last year in Pakistan. Dordoi had also defeated NPC 3-0 during the group stages in Pakistan. NPC trained for the last two days but only did light training today.

“We will definitely adopt offensive strategy because if we enter the field with defensive mentality it meant losing the match before the start,” said coach Shrestha. “They have physical advantage but our players can match their strength,” added Shrestha.

NPC captain Ramesh Budhathoki said that they had no other option but to play for win. “Our aim is to beat Dordoi in their home ground,” said Budhathoki adding that they would try to play ground ball as much as possible. National team captain and veteran defender Rakesh Shrestha said that the two teams know each other quite well and believed that any team can win the match.

Dordoi Dynamo coach Sergoi Vorinyekov said that he was not taking the match lightly. “We have defeated them (NPC) twice but that doesn’t mean they are not a good side,” cautious Vorinyekov said.