It’s down to the final four teams in the 2010/2011 Kashif and Shanghai football tournament and, with the defending champions out of the race; a new champion will be crowned.
Tonight, semifinal action will unravel at the Guyana National Stadium with Sunburst Camptown going up against the star-studded Pele Football Club team from 6pm.
In the feature encounter, Alpha ‘The Hammer’ United will engage Linden’s Bakewell Topp XX.
Action, though, will get underway from 4pm with the supporting game between the National Under-20 Golden Jaguars side and Fruta Conquerors. The under-20 side battled Rosignol United on Monday in another supporting game and drew that game 2 – 2.
In the feature event, one can expect another good performance from the well-oiled Alpha United football team which bulldozed its way into the semifinal.
They have scored a whopping 11 goals in two matches whilst conceding only one.
Alpha United boasts a strong, experienced line-up that includes guest player Kithson Bain of Grenada.
Bain, Dwight Peters and Anthony ‘Awo’ Abrams are the three prong strike force.
Alpha’s midfield is strong as usual and their defensive line remains one of the best in the country with captain, Howard Lowe marshalling the forces.
This technically-sound team will find opponents, five-time Kashif and Shanghai champions Top XX a formidable force.
Top XX produced a very good run to reach the semifinal round once again defeating Ann’s Grove, Caribbean United and the Guyana Defence Force football teams on their way to the final four.
Coached by former national player, and assistant coach of the Golden Jaguars side, Collie Hercules, the side is an unpredictable one.
The other semifinal between the 2008/2009 champion Pele FC and Sunburst Camptown who has also won the championship once should be a scorcher.
Pele’s line-up is quite scary on paper but on the field they have had a tough time with their team chemistry and consistency.
Coach of the side, Gordon ‘Ultimate Warrior’ Braithwaite, might be pondering how such a star-studded side which boasts at least eight national players, is finding it so hard to dispose of teams comfortably.
In the two games Pele played the one critical factor evident is their inability to finish near goal.
The competition stiffens tonight with a more technically correct team with the ability to score and, should Pele not get its act together, it could be the end of the road for them. The game, though, will not be altogether easy for Sunburst Camptown either as they will be going up against a sturdy defensive line led by former national captain Charles ‘Lilly’ Pollard.
Sunburst Camptown, though, has a balanced side and the game should be an interesting one.
Camptown squeezed past Liquid Gold in the first round then humbled the defending champions BK International Western Tigers in the quarterfinal round on Monday night.
