Salgaocar look formidable against Sporting
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
MARGAO, APRIL 2
Salgaocar Sports Club’s Moroccan coach Bencherifa isn’t taking cellar team Sporting Clube de Goa lightly when they meet in an ONGC I-League match at Nehru stadium, here on Saturday.
The Flaming Orange boys are languishing at the bottom of the 14-team table and at this rate their exit seems to be a foregone conclusion.
Bencherifa said: “All teams in the League are of equal strength and no one is invincible. We’ve a balanced side and the boys are confident of winning tomorrow’s encounter. We cannot afford to be complacent and have to perform to a particular level.”
“I have a lot of respect for Sporting and also have a plan where everybody is committed to a common cause. It’s a continuous process .which took us to the 10th position with 21 points from 18 matches. It will remain the same against Sporting as well as the other opponents in the next rounds,” Bencherifa maintained.
In-form Ekene Ikenwa will partner other African import Keita Mandjou up front while Iranian import Rouhollah Samienia, Milagres Gonsalves, Brazilian Luciano Sabrosa and Melwyn Rodrigues will form the back four with Kalyan Chaubey under the bar. Cajetan Fernandes, Francis Fernandes, Rocus Lamare and Lester Fernandez will be the men in the middle of the park.
Salgaocar are riding high after their comprehensive win over East Bengal and as such look favourites
A 4-1 home win over Kolkata giants East Bengal, moved Salgaocar out of the bottom two but they are still only one point above the drop zone so coach Bencherifa knows
that there is very little room for error.
Sporting have been inconsistent and there is little that coach Vishwas Gaonkar can do so late in the League.
“I told the players to enjoy the game and they should adapt adequately. We should play for a victory as we have not given up as yet, for miracles can happen and as such we will put up a performance that should upset Salgaocar,” remarked Vishwas.
Nigerian Junior returns to the squad after one match suspension along with his countrymate Nathaniel Amos. Micheal Tayo will play alongside Joseph Pereira, Bibiano Fernandes, Adil Khan and Nicholas Rodrigues in the middle.
Meanwhile, Khalid Jamil will need to inspire his team to salvage pride as it will be a crucial match for the Mumbai team when they take on Pune FC at Cooperage ground, Mumbai on Saturday.
Mumbai FC find themselves second from the bottom of the table in the points table with 18 points, while Pune FC also are not in great shape and they are placed at seventh position with 23 points in their kitty.
