KUCHING: The preliminaries of the AFC President’s Cup tournament will reach the climax it fully deserves on Monday. Two matches, which promise to be exciting, are in store. While the Group A matches wind up on Saturday, the two semifinalists from Group B have not been decided yet. All four teams – Manang Marshyangdi Club, Dordoi-Dynamo, Ratnam Sports Club and FC Vakhsh – have three points each from one win and one loss. It is a winner-takes-all situation and the excitement of the respective coaches was evident. “I wish Vakhsh were already in the semifinals,” said Uraz Turaqulov. “But that’s speaking as coach of Vakhsh.” “But from the football angle, I think this is a brilliant situation. It adds to the general atmosphere. It is good for the game.” Vakhsh are up against Ratnam, whose only regret about tomorrow’s game is they will be without two of their better players – burly defender Fuard Kamaldeen and goalkeeper Sugath Dammika Thilakaratne. Fuard’s height and strength would have been useful to neutralize the equally physical Vakash forwards. “Morale is a little down. That’s my first job – to lift the spirits of the players. We are facing perhaps the best side of the tournament and ideally we should have our best players,” said Ratnam coach Emmanuel Balendra Anthony. A scorching pace can also be expected in the other game. It is just as well that both matches will be held at the same time, one at Sarawak Stadium and the other at the adjacent State Stadium. Despite their impressive win over Vakhsh yesterday, it may still be an uphill task for Manang against Dordoi. They have guts and spirit but those qualities may not be enough against a technically-superior side like Dordoi. “It will be tough. But if we play like we did against Vakhsh, I think we can beat any team in this tournament. Against Vakhsh, there was discipline – the players performed to instructions,” said Manang coach Chhring Lopsang Gurung. Dordoi coach Boris Podkorytov is hoping his players would recover sufficiently from two demanding matches. He too would be without one vital player, Ildar Amirov, but he is not too concerned about that. “Amirov will be dealt with internally as well. He went against team discipline by inviting that red card,” he said. “I have immense respect for Manang. We lost to the team that they beat. That surely demands some respect, and they will for sure get that from us.” The stakes are high, and the early signs are there will be four very hungry teams on the two pitches tomorrow. A fitting finale to the group stage.