Kerala Blasters’ talismanic midfielder Adrian Luna will unfortunately not be a part of their team in the upcoming Super Cup which is set to he hosted in Kerala. The club has elaborated on the reasonings but the Uruguayan midfielder has some personal reasons which is forcing him out of the action.
“The club would like to inform its fans that Adrian Luna has been granted extended leave for personal reasons. As a result, he will not be participating in the upcoming edition of the Hero Super Cup. We understand the importance of this competition, but we respect Adrian’s need for time away from the team,” said in the Kerala Blasters released statement.
Luna has been exceptional for the Blasters as they qualified for the playoffs after finishing fifth in the ISL standings. While they lost out against Bengaluru FC in a con trversial manner, Luna will be a big miss for Ivan Vukomanovic’s men in the Super Cup.
The Uruguayan midfielder scored four goals and provided six assists this season in 20 appearances.
He was crucial to Kerala Blasters plans for last season when they qualified for the finals only to lose on penalties against Hyderabad FC. Hence Luna has become a fan favourite at the club and they will miss him dearly.
The Super Cup is schedule to start from April 8 in Kerala and teams will be aiming to win the tournament in order to get a place in the AFC Cup group stages. The winner sof the Super Cup will play I-League outfit Gokulam Kerala to decide the eventual team that will seal AFC Cup group stage berth. However in Gokulam Kerala wins the Super Cup, then they will qualify automatically.
The Blasters are in Group A drawn alongside rivals Bengaluru FC, I-League winners RoundGlass Punjab and a team that will win the Qualifier one. Sreenidhi Deccan will play the winner of Rajasthan United versus NEROCA in the qualifier to book a seat in the Super Cup.
After the playoff controversy between Bengaluru FC and Kerala Blasters in the ISL, which saw Ivan Vukomanovic urging his team to walk off the ground after Sunil Chhetri’s controversial freekick goal was allowed by the referee. The two sides will play again at the EMS Corporation Stadium on April 18. It promises to be an epic clash and tempers may rise during the game and therefore there’s massive excitement around it.
The group winners will progres to the semifinals of the tournament with the finals scheduled on April 25 and be played in Kozhikode.
