BANGALORE, APRIL 11: Come Friday evening, it will be an all-Shillong affair at the Bangalore Football Stadium as city rivals Rangdajied United FC take on Langsning FC in their concluding match of the first leg final round of the 2nd division I-league.
It is a must win game for the teams from the Scotland of the East if they want to qualify for the next leg of the tournament. A draw would give both the teams a slim chance of qualifying. “We will have to earn full points if we want to be in the race. A draw will give us both a slim chance,” said Rangdajied assistant coach Khlain Pynrkhat Syiemlieh. When the two teams last met in the preliminary round of the I-League at Singruali, Langsning had piped Rangdajied by a solitary goal.
Both the teams have four points in their kitty from equal number of matches.
On the injury worries in his team, Syiemlieh said Thomas Saikhom would be out of the squad while the fate of Dapbor Bareh, who is also nursing an injury, will be decided on the morning of the match.
Langsning, however, want to take no chances and have decided to field their first choice players. Coach L. Darlong said that he will be fielding his first XI even though some of them are suffering nagging injuries. “It is a very important match for us since we want to add to our points tally before we go into second leg of the league”, he said.
Know the coaches:
Rangdajied coach Khlain P Syiemlieh began his carrier as a player when he joined Mawlai Sports Club in 1985. He shifted to Langsning in 1999 and was with the team till 2003, during which team he played under the guidance of L. Darlong.
In 2004-05, he underwent ten months-long coaching training at the National Institute of Sports (NIS) in Kolkata and on completion Langsning as a player-cum-assistant coach under Darlong. He began his independent coaching career when he joined his former club Mawlai as its coach in 2006 and guided the club to the semi-final of Shillong Super Division.
He later joined Ar-Hima (now Rangdajied United) in 2008 and has been with the team since then. He has guided Ar-Hima to title of the Shillong Super Division, and twice to the final round of 2nd Division I-League.
Langsning coach L. Darlong, on the other hand, who was part of the Subroto Cup winning St. Anthony’s High School team 25 years back. Subsequently, he joined Blue Max, which was formed by Rishan Rapsang by roping in all the St. Anthony’s players who had won the Subroto Cup. The club was disbanded in 1989.
Two years later, he began his coaching career with Langsning. During his 15-year at the helm of the Langsning till 2006, the club won as many as ten Shillong league titles. He also trained Ar-Hima for a season in 2007-08 and guided the club to the Super League champion.
In the following season, he guided Royal Wahingdoh to Super Division after winning the Shillong first division. He rejoined Langsning in 2011 and has been with the team since then. The club won the Independence Cup, Nawgow. (Suraj Joshi)
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