AGENCIES, AIZAWL: Hero I-League will head to Mizoram as Aizawl FC play host to the Red Machines – Churchill Brothers FC Goa from Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Aizawl on Wednesday.
Aizawl are currently placed sixth on the points table with 7 points from six games and Churchill Brothers are placed second with nine points from four games.
After the heroic performance against Gokulam Kerala where after being down to 10 men within the first 20 minutes of the game, Aizawl showed tremendous resilience in order to salvage a draw away from home at Kozhikode.
Speaking ahead of the match, Stanley Rozario, Head Coach, Aizawl FC, said, “Churchill Brothers are tough opponents and they are in good form and coming with high motivation after defeating Quess East Bengal in Goa. They have the players like Willis Plaza, Lalkhawpuimawia and Alhassan who can put pressure on any opponent but we have a plan to stop them and my players are ready to take the challenge.”
The consistency of Israil Gurung in delivering inch-perfect balls into the box has been another advantage for the team which eventually won the match for the Red Machines against Quess East Bengal.
Bernardo Tavares, Head coach, Churchill Brothers FC Goa, commented about dealing with pressure, “In football, there will always be pressure. Hero I-League has just started now and surely, all the teams are going to lose points in the future.”
“We must try to win the next match and try to be in the top half of the table, but the most important for thing for us is to be on top of the table when the league is over.”
Speaking about the opponents, he said, “I’m told that they won 2-1 against Churchill Brothers last season. This season, they have already played at home against Mohun Bagan, Chennai City and Punjab and they did not lose any game. They are a very strong team at home and the artificial turf will give them an edge because we are used to playing on natural turf.”
He further added, “They fight very hard when they don’t have the ball. They have good players and they are a good team. They just lost one game away until now in the league. If we want to win this team we must be better at fighting for the ball.”
In what is poised to be a landmark fixture, Tiddim Road Athletic Union (TRAU) FC will be taking on local rivals NEROCA FC in the Hero I-League’s first-ever Imphal Derby on Wednesday, January 8 at the Khuman Lampak Stadium. The match is scheduled for an afternoon kick-off at 2 pm
TRAU remain rooted to the bottom of the league standings, five games into their debut season but have exhibited sparks of improvement over their last two games against Real Kashmir and Punjab.
The duo of Kofi Tetteh and Princewill Emeka has been showing signs of cohesion up front, while the likes of Abhishek Das, Soirasham Sandeep Singh and Patrick Uche are slowly starting to gel at the back.
