It will be a major challenge for TC Sport Club to compete in the Dhivehi Premier League, with a fresh young squad, says coach Mohamed Shaazlee.

As the club prepares to compete in the new season, TC’s squad has seen a number of changes, some of which include football star and National Football Team players, forward Ali Ashfaq and captain Akram Abdul Ghanee having left the team and signed onto Club Valencia.

Club Valencia’s captain, Ahmed Farrah has signed onto Super United Sports (SUS) who are competing in the first division for the first time after a five-year hiatus.

Further, Ismail Easa, the team’s midfielder who played a pivotal role in TC in the midst of the last season, has also left the team and signed onto United Victory.

In a press conference held on Wednesday, Shaazlee noted that TC Sports Club is one of the pillars of Maldives’ football, however, this time there will be challenges as most of the senior players who played for the team during last year, have left. The team is currently left with young players as it prepares for a major tournament, which poses many challenges, Shaazlee stressed.

Shaazlee went onto highlight that the team lacks experienced players, despite which the coach remains hopeful of the team that has shown good performance during training sessions.

During the presser, TC’s captain Mohamed Azzam stated that they had begun abrupt preparations for the season despite of which the squad is prepared for the new season.

As such, the squad showed good performance during the pre-season matches, which indicates hope that the team will do well in this season, said Azzam. Azzam revealed that they hope the team will be able to reach high in the Dhivehi Premier League.

Dhivehi Premier League is to kick off on Sunday and TC is scheduled to go head-to-head with Da Grande Sports Club in its first match of the league, set for Monday.