Crown at home in President's Cup

Crown's Bouy Dary in Kuala Lumpur today (photo www.the-afc.com)

The draw for the group stages of the 2011 AFC President's Cup was held in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon, and has paired Phnom Penh Crown, the hosts of Group A, with top seeded league champions from Kyrgyzstan, Neftchi Kochkor-Ata, Bangladesh champions Abahani Limited and Sri Lanka’s Don Bosco Sports Club. The matches will take place at the Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh between May 13-31. Confirmation of the match dates will be available in due course. Bouy Dary, Crown's Academy head coach said from Kuala Lumpur; “Kyrgyzstan’s Dordoi won this competition two times but this year the country is represented by a new club which could be better than Dordoi. Neftchi Kochkor-Ata could be one of the two qualifiers from our group but I think we have home advantage which will help us reach the Finals. Bangladesh clubs are also good but we are confident of making it to the finals.”

In the other groups, defending champions Yadanarbon of Myanmar will meet debutants Jabal Al-Mukaber Club of Palestine - the first time ever a club from West Asia is playing in the AFC President’s Cup - and Tajikstan's Istiklol. Also in Group B will be Bhutan champs Yeedzin FC. Nepal Police Club (Nepal), Taiwan Power Company (Chinese Taipei), FC Nebitchi (Turkmenistan) and WAPDA (Pakistan) form Group C, which will be played in Kathmandu, Nepal. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the six-team finals to be played at a venue to be announced at a later date. Qualification to the competition is by clubs from Asian Football Confederation-affiliated countries which fall into the AFC's emerging nations category.