rajesh@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: NorthEast United will look to grab some vital points against a formidable FC Goa in their first home clash at the Indira Gandhi Stadium, Guwahati, on Thursday.
Zico and his men on the other hand will come down hard on their opponents after their disastrous spell against Chennaiyin FC, at Fatorda, where they were simply outclassed by sheer skill and determination.
FC Goa began their campaign on a high defeating Delhi Dynamos 2-0 in their opening Home clash. Desai and Reinaldo lived upto Zico’s billing.
The Gaurs had three Home games to begin which they opened with a bang. They drew their second match against Atletico de Kolkata 1-1 and the last clash against Chennaiyin FC resulted in a total white wash 0-4 loss.
Looking ahead of the match FC Goa’s legendary coach weighed their prospects against NorthEast.
“I think NorthEast have the same problem that we have. Their players are also injured. I watched a few games of NorthEast. They didn’t look like they deserved to lose the last game. So we will have a good game,” said head coach Zico.
Lucio hasn’t traveled with the team due to a muscle pain while Jofre Mateu Gonzalez, who had received a knock in the match against Chennaiyin, remains in contention after practicing normally with the squad.
Zico might be tempted to try out Scottish striker Darryl Duffy instead of Brazilian striker Reinaldo, who looked threatening in all his three games but the Goan poster boy Romeo will be the man to watch out for.
Zico played their opening clash with a 4-1-4-1 formation against Delhi Dynamos. The combination worked wonders with mid fielders Mandar Dessai and Romeo Fernandes scripting moves along with Brazilian striker Reinaldo.
FC Goa have 25 shots on target with three goals to show and are looking to return to winning ways while Cesar Farias’ team is yet to register a point.
NorthEast United FC will have an edge playing their first Home match after two defeats with Kerala Blasters FC and FC Pune City beating the John Abraham co-owned team 3-1 and 1-0 respectively.
NorthEast will bank on Nicolas Velez, Argentinian striker to set the tone of the game. But the game changers would very well prove to be Diomansy Kamara, French striker and Portugal mid fielder Silas.
The Home team’s defender, Miguel Garcia, will not only be missing out on the game against the Goans but the rest of the season too.
