IMPHAL/KOLKATA: A mouth-watering extravaganza is on the cards for Friday when the Neroca FC takes on Mohun Bagan at Khuman Lampak Stadium.
Hosts Neroca are sitting fourth on the league table with 15 points from nine games. They are one rung above their Friday visitors, who have the same number of points from an equal number of games, but Neroca have the better goal difference.
A win on Friday will take either of the teams equal on points with current league leaders Chennai City FC, although that might change depending on the result of the day’s second game between Quess East Bengal (QEB) and Real Kashmir FC, which will follow the game in Imphal.Neroca, coached by Spaniard Manuel Fraile, are coming off a keenly contested goalless draw in their previous game against champions Minerva Punjab, but have been in good form, winning three on the trot before that.Mohun Bagan, on the other hand, have bounced back admirably after their derby loss against arch-rivals East Bengal, with two wins in their last two games and it all adds up to a delicious contest.
The home side will be again looking for inspiration from their talismanic winger Yusa Katsumi. The Japanese has been instrumental in changing the fortunes of the Manipur side since coming back from injury. Their Nigerian striker Felix Chidi has also scored four times in the league till now and will look to prise open the Mohun Bagan defence on Friday. The Green and Maroons’ two front men, Cameroonian Aiser Dipanda Dicka and Ugandan Henry Kisekka, have also scored four and three goals respectively, in the campaign and the Kolkata side will again look up to them for succour.
Bagan coach Sankarlal Chakraborty will, however, know that Neroca has the tighter defence of the two sides, having conceded seven to Mohun Bagan’s 10 so far, and will want to guard against that, given Neroca’s fluent attacking line-up.
All in all, it will be a battle of attrition between two equally-matched teams in good enough form, and it will be interesting to watch who blinks first. On the other hand, Real Kashmir FC coach David Robertson on Thursday rued the lack of coverage after the revised I-League telecast schedule, saying fans in India would be deprived of high intensity football.I-League clubs are up in arms after the tournament’s official broadcaster Star Sports recently announced that it will cut the television coverage to just 31 of the 61 matches remaining in the season.
While former champions Mohun Bagan are the only side who could see all of their matches shown on television, defending champions Minerva Punjab FC were the worst-hit, and newcomers Real Kashmir FC will be partially affected.The decision has invited widespread criticism and the Scottish coach of Real Kashmir said: “The football fans in India will be deprived of games. I am here for two years now and I think that is a special and an exciting league.”
The Scot also said even as a 12-year-old boy in Scotland he knew about Mohun Bagan and East Bengal as he termed himself lucky to face the two clubs in the I-League.
“East Bengal and Mohun Bagan are the two biggest clubs of India. As a 12-year-old boy in Scotland, I had heard about these two teams,” he said. “They have the biggest budgets. I’ve been with big clubs in Scotland too, and playing with big clubs brings a lot of pressure.”Debutants Kashmir have exceeded expectations this season, staying second after nine games and a point behind leaders Chennai City FC.
Speaking about their performance so far, he said: “It’s been a good story for the club. To be where we are at the moment is really fantastic. There’s a lot of enthusiasm in the team. We are enjoying every bit of it.” (IANS)
