Guwahati, Sep 15: The NorthEast United FC will open their Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 campaign on the road against newly-promoted Mohammedan SC at Kishore Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata on Monday.
The Highlanders will be back in Kolkata for the first time since their Durand Cup triumph and will be eyeing a positive start to the campaign.
On the other hand, Mohammedan will play their first-ever ISL match after earning the promotion as an I-League winner last season.
“We are playing against a good team with excellent players and a coach.They have a good stadium and special fans, who are very close to the action.
We have a game plan in place, we need to keep calm and play our game,” NorthEast United FC Juan Pedro Benali said at the pre-match press conference.
“Each game has its own story, one game has plenty of small games and you should win those little games and if you succeed in winning the higher percentage of those little games (battles) it’s highly likely that you will win the game.
Football is not about just attack or just defence, you need to strike a balance between the both,” Benali added when asked how his team would approach the season opener.
Mirshad Michu, the team’s goalkeeper and one of the team captains expressed that the team is in a positive spirit and it’s a close-knit group.
“We started the pre-season two months back and all three keepers (Gurmeet Singh and Dipesh Chauhan) are very close.
We always support each other and are very guided by our coaches. If we notice something in each other’s game, we share it and make sure we are there for each other,” Michu said.
As the Highlanders get their season kick-off their ISL 2024-25 season on the road, they would be hoping to bring back all three points along with them.
On the other hand, Mohammedan SC head coach Andrey Chernyshov is not putting exceeding expectations on his players right now. He instead wants them to take a feel of the league, embrace a fighting spirit, and improve as they move ahead in the year.
“First, we need to make a strong team for the ISL. We understand how strong this competition is.
We will be playing against many good Indian and foreign players.
We need to take this feeling from the ISL, the experience, and we need to fight in every match, show good football for the people, and this is the most important, which inspires us to do very well in every match,” Chernyshov told the ISL. (Agencies)
