Basil Sylvester Pinto
PANAJI
A side which had undergone a torrid first two seasons, Mumbai City FC are placed second among the eight teams in fray after three weeks of competition in the ongoing Indian Super League, highlighting that no team can be taken lightly in this tournament .
With the calming influence of their Costa Rican Head Coach Alexandre Guimarães, Mumbai City FC appears a transformed, highly competitive outfit this season. Despite missing the services of their sharpshooting forward Sunil Chhetri -- who has bigger commitment with I-League club Bengaluru FC who have made it to the finals of the ongoing AFC Cup, Mumbai have done really well to be in this situation.
Their much-talked about marquee signing, Diego Forlán showed an inkling of the stuff a legend is made of initially, but the former Uruguayan forward has been in the injury ward after the second game against NorthEast United FC. Forlán is expected to be back in action in the home game against FC Goa on Friday but there are doubts over the fitness of their Argentine striker Gaston Sangoy, who is recovering from an injury.
With Mumbai strikers missing in action, Guimarães has impressively used his midfielders and wingers to fill up the void upfront in their last three games -- where they held Atletico de Kolkata 1-1 at home, lost by a solitary goal to Kerala Blasters in an away game and drew with Delhi Dynamos 3-3 in a high-octane draw in Delhi.
International midfielders in Hungarian Krisztián Vadócz and Argentine MatÃas Defederico, have been the architects of their success so far. But with the expected return of Forlán -- the 2010 World Cup Golden Ball winner award -- against FC Goa, the team will look more formidable in the final third.
But on the flip side, their dynamic young Indian midfielder Sehnaj Singh would sit out of the game after being handed out his fourth booking in the tournament against Delhi in their last match. But Guimarães’ side can take heart from the encouraging performance of Haitian midfield international Sony Norde making an impact in his first start in the tournament in Delhi and the consistency shown by their defensive midfielder Pronay Halder, who would know a trick or two to thwart attacks against his former club.
Given their status quo, Mumbai City would be wary of their opposition FC Goa who will be playing for their pride with full gusto. The visiting Gaurs can take confidence from their last meeting at their fortress in Fatorda where they walloped the Mumbai-based side 7-0.
