For the four Goan teams participating in the I-league thisyear the philosophy and idiom of play is as distinct from each other. Pressure may be a constant in everyday lifelike in sport but exerting pressure on themselves is something that the coachesdo not necessarily believe in.
Armando Colaço coach at Dempo said “I do not believe inexerting pressure on my team. We do not expect much. I tell my guys to go outand enjoy ourselves. We are late starters anyway and we settle into our rhythmas the season progresses.” Asked what position he expected the team to end at,he said “I am not going to say anything. We will go out and play our game. Wedid very well at the Federation cup and I expect us to continue this rich veinof form”.
If that is the case with the canny Armando then EkendraSingh of Sporting Clube de Goa does not believe in holding back his punches. Hesaid “We were unlucky at the Federation cup and missed out on a semi-final spotand I would like our guys to pull up their socks and do well in the I league. Iwant them to come in the top three. We have to show our skills and get theright result in our favour”.
Anju Albuquerque manager at the club said that the focus onyouth was paying off as it did in the past. The combination of foreign playersand local youth were coming off quite fine and he expected them to do well.Asked for a position he would like the team to come, he refused to bedrawn.
Karim Bencherifabased in Gangtok in preparation for the first match for his team SalgaocarSports Clubis said “We reached the finals of the Federation cup and now we havea new team with new foreign players. We need some time but there is a need tostart well in the I-league. We have two tricky and difficult away matches withthe first one being against United Sikkim”.
Playing in a hilly area in cooler climes was a challengewhich needed to be overcome and a win was certainly a goal. As ked how heintended to maintain a high degree of performance over 26 matches he said thatthe fact that they had to play five matches away was very crucial. Followingthe two matches in Gangtok and Shillong, the team he said would return to Goa.They would then go to Calcutta to play the three giants. He said “We need agood start in these matches to help us build a strong campaign.
He refused to name anyone in the team he looked up to sayingthat it was a team and they had to work together to succeed.
For Churchill Bros coach, Mariano Dias, the high movement ofcoaches from the team was not a problem. Asked what he expected from the teamthis season he said “I want my team to be there in the top three. My confidenceis based on the quality of players and our strategy. We will show our handduring the match. I expect us to do well”.
The monthsahead will show where the Goan teams eventually end up.
