• The second coming of Abdullah Almutairi

Head Coach Abdullah Almutairi arrived in the country on Friday (13) morning to commence his second stint with Sri Lanka as they gear up for a famous away win in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup Qualifiers against Chinese Taipei on 31 March, Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) President Jaswar Umar told The Sunday Morning Sports.

According to the FFSL President, Almutairi is set to fast track the training schedule of Sujan Perera’s team who are due to leave Colombo either on 20 or 21 March, heading for Taipei via Thailand, for the clash which is scheduled to be held at the Taipei Municipal Stadium in Taipei on the aforementioned date.

Almutairi, who had earlier made public his decision to part ways with the FFSL with mutual consent via a Facebook post early last month, had reportedly been coaxed to return for a second tenure till the end of next year at the insistence of Umar.

“Coach Abdullah will kick off the training programme no sooner he is here, and we are confident that the team will round off the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers on a winning note,” commented an optimistic head of the local football governing body, looking ahead to the encounter against Chinese Taipei. 

Sri Lanka, who are yet to lose to Chinese Taipei in international football, will however look to create history against the latter by beating their hosts for the first time in their own backyard.

To date, the Lankans have played four matches and won three (two at home and one in Bangladesh) and drawn the other (in Taipei), and the forthcoming tie will present an opportunity for them to post a landmark victory on Taipei soil.

They had previously made history against Turkmenistan in October last year in the ongoing competition when they got the better of the Central Asian team 1-0 in Colombo for the first time. However, away and home losses to Thailand, as well as a defeat at the hands of Turkmenistan in the return fixture, derailed their campaign.

Turkmenistan and Thailand currently head Group D with 12 points each, with both Sri Lanka and Chinese Taipei out of the running with six and zero points, respectively. 

(JK)