Fortis to leave for Kuwait with big dream

Fortis FC are all set to fly out for Kuwait tomorrow morning to take part in the AFC Challenge League, hoping to make history by qualifying for the knockout stage of the 20-team competition.

In their debut appearance in Asia’s third-tier club competition, Fortis have already taken their first step by beating Uzbekistan’s Muras United in the preliminary stage in August to reach the group stage. They now hope to make further history by reaching the knockout stage, a feat achieved by only Abahani in the AFC Cup in 2018.

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Fortis have been drawn in Group C alongside India’s FC Goa, Kuwait’s Al-Qadsia Sporting Club and Uzbekistan’s Regar-TadAZ. The three group winners from Groups A, B and C, along with the best runners-up among the three groups, will advance to the quarterfinals from the West Region. The remaining four quarterfinalists will come from the East Region.

“We have set an ambitious target of reaching the quarterfinals, although all our opponents are better than us. But they are not unbeatable,” Fortis head coach Masud Parvez Kaiser told The Daily Star on the eve of the departure.

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“We don’t want to be out of the race before playing our third match against Regar-TadAZ, so it is very important for us to produce good results in the first two matches against Al-Qadsia SC and FC Goa,” said Kaiser, adding that Al-Qadsia have an advantage over the other teams because of their familiarity with the local weather, while Regar-TadAZ are in good form in their domestic league, which is nearing its end.

Fortis have also been in good form domestically, winning all three of their league matches and scoring 15 goals. However, Kaiser is not getting carried away by those results, pointing out that their local opponents are yet to offer a stern challenge.

“I think playing three domestic matches will help us determine our playing style, as well as how to build up the game and protect the defence. However, I think we have to perform better than we did against Muras United FC in the preliminary stage,” said Kaiser.