Goan outfit Sporting Clube de Goa run into an in-form Bengaluru at the Kanteerava Stadium, today. Sporting coach Mateus Costa knows the importance of the game and after the setback up north against Shillong Lajong in the previous match, he is definitely expecting a tough match down south on the morrow. Costa says the team has done its homework and will stick to a plan.
Agencies
Bengaluru
Sporting Clube de Goa has flown down south to Kanteerava where they take on Bengaluru FC on Saturday. Sporting come into this match from a setback up north in Shillong while Bengluru had a successful trip to Kolkata where they defeated East Bengal. Bengaluru lead the proceedings with 12 points from 5 matches while Sporting Goa are stuck mid-table with 4 points from as many matches.
Sporting coach Mateus Costa said: “Definitely it’s going to be a tough match. Bengaluru are a good side with top players.” He further said: “We have watched them play and done our homework, we will stick to our plan. We have the quality in our squad that can match up to the Bengaluru side and we just need to believe in ourselves.”
He added: “We have a well balanced squad for this match and all our foreign recruits are available, we should have a good contest on the cards.”
When asked about the training, he said: “The boys have shown some good form in training.We have practiced well and eager to get on the field tomorrow.”
On being quizzed about the loss at Shillong, the Gaffer said: “Sometimes we do everything right and still miss out on things, Shillong was one such incident. We definitely played a good brand of football but sometimes that’s not enough.”
On being quizzed about the goals drying up, Mateus said: “Yes, I agree we haven’t been scoring at a convincing rate but every coin has two sides. We have been creating numerous opportunities; like I have said in my previous interviews, if we had converted a few of them the table would have shown a different story. So let’s hope the conversion starts here at Kanteerava.”
Sporting has finally managed to get all their players fit and available, the major boost ahead of this fixture is the availability of all four foreigners.
Bengaluru FC head coach Ashley Westwood said: “We're looking forward to this home game against Sporting Goa. It's going to be a tough game and we'll have to make sure we work hard.”
He further added: “There are not enough games to pull away from each other in the league. Every game is absolutely important. We have to keep the momentum going and hopefully we'll have enough to put the other sides under pressure.”
Kick off: 7.05 pm. Live streaming on www.i-league.org
