MARGAO
Goa and Manipur will face off in the semi-final of the 77th National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy in what promises to be a mouth-watering contest at the Golden Jubilee Stadium, Yupia in Arunachal Pradesh, on Thursday.
Goa qualified for the tournament by virtue of winning the match against Delhi 2-1 while Manipur made the cut after trouncing Assam 7-1. Adding to the battle is the top form of both teams. Goa head coach Charles Dias is wary of Manipur.
Speaking to The Goan on Wednesday he said: " Manipur have excelled in the league and achieved positive results. Goa will give their best and we must be careful and perform better to overcome the challenge."
The Goan coach added: "We haven’t changed anything about our training. We are going into another tournament and it will certainly be different from the league. We are facing a reputed and well-combined team, and we are aware of that. We are preparing for the match strongly and we have a final training session ahead of us. Our focus now is on our strengths and all players are fully prepared." said Dias having regained the services of their promising players.
Goa too are firing on all cylinders with the return of their talented players back in the side. They have been among the top two leading teams in the league and will also look to prove their mettle in the Santosh Trophy. The dream team’s enthusiasm will be unrivalled within the team, which got back to winning ways in the championship with a big 2-1 win over Delhi.
"The presence of the four teams in one tournament makes it very challenging and especially when all teams are in good form. It indicates that all matches will be difficult and I hope we will be able to present our best level and produce a good performance."
"We are happy and proud to participate in the tournament. Our goal is to reach the final and win the title and I am happy with what the team is doing in the Santosh Trophy. Facing Manipur will be difficult and it is certainly, we have had all the capabilities to go far in the entire tournament this season. The players have a great deal of responsibility and this facilitates my work.This is very excellent for us and we shall focus on the way and study it well so that we can provide our best," explained the Goan coach.
