Kitchee and Dreams FC set on collision course in S

Fresh off from its final AFC Champions League group match away in Korea, Kitchee will return to domestic football on Sunday afternoon for a Sapling Cup semi-final against Dreams FC. The knockout match will take place in Mongkok Stadium and kick-off time will be 5:30pm. Kitchee fans are called to show up in numbers and to lend their support to the Blues. Kitchee advanced to the Sapling Cup semi-final by racking up three wins and one draw from its four group fixtures, eventually topping Group B. While red-hot striker Lucas Da Silva has yet to open his scoring account in this season’s Sapling Cup, the likes of Alexande Akande, Krisztian Vadocz and Jared Lum have all stepped in and shouldered the scoring load with two goals apiece, demonstrating Kitchee’s evenly spread firepower. As long as things go according to plan on the weekend, Kitchee’s dangerous frontline should still be able to generate enough chances to put Dreams FC’s defense to test. Kitchee goalkeeper Guo Jianqiao, who has been between the sticks for Kitchee throughout this season’s Sapling Cup, points out that battles in the Sapling Cup should get more intense as the tournament enters the knockout phase, thus the Blues will be best served to get fully prepared for the upcoming challenges. “Anything can happen as we enter the knockout phase of the Sapling Cup. We might even need to go to the penalty shootout to determine the eventual winner, thus we must be prepared for everything,” stressed the sure-handed Kitchee custodian. “Our young players still need to build up their experience but they are full of energy and fighting spirit and should inject even more life into the lineup. At the end of the day, the most important thing for them is to demonstrate solid mental strength and positive attitude on the pitch.” Young midfielder Barak Braunshtain insists the Blues’ target remains very clear, which is to punch its ticket for the Sapling Cup final. “The team has done quite well in the Sapling Cup this season and us young players have really enjoyed the opportunity of playing in the competition,” said the teenage midfielder. “Dreams FC has a lot of quality young players, such as Tiger (Harima) and Law Tsz (Law Tsz-chun), whom I played with last season. But we are very clear with our intentions, which is to get our hands on the Sapling Cup title.”