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| Regar favourites to qualify |
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| Tajikistan's defending champions Regar-TadAZ |
KUALA LUMPUR: The MPPJ Stadium here in the capital of Malaysia will host the Group A qualifying matches of this edition’s AFC President’s Cup from Sunday, 22 June, 2008, featuring Bangladeshi champions Abahani, Nepal’s Police Club, WAPDA of Pakistan and the 2005 champions Regar-TadAZ of Tajikistan.
With only two teams – the two-time defending champions from Kyrgyzstan, Dordoi-Dynamo and Turkmenistan’s Ashgabat – punching their tickets to the semi-finals so far, there is all to play for the four teams until the curtains fall on the qualifying campaign on June 26.
The winners of this section and the best second-placed team from among the three pools go into the hat alongwith Dordoi and Ashgabat for the knockout stage draw which takes place on June 30 at AFC House.
Tajik powerhouse Regar won the inaugural title three years back by defeating Dordoi 3-0 in Kathmandu but failed to qualify for the 2006 edition before losing to Mahendra Police of Nepal 2-1, thanks to a shock injury time goal, last year in the semi-finals. Mahendra Police have since been rechristened as Nepal Police Club.
WAPDA played in the 2005 instalment of the competition but failed to clear the group stage, winning just one match out of three.
In an all-South Asian clash, Nepal Police Club open the proceedings against Abahani at 1600 hours local time followed by an encounter between Regar and WAPDA at 1830 hours.
The tournament proper will be hosted by Kyrgyzstan from September 19-21, 2008, at the Spartak Stadium in Bishkek.
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