PANAJI
Vasco Sports Club will take on Sporting Clube de Goa in their Group D opening fixture of the 1st AWES Cup, at Duler Stadium, on Monday (4 pm kick-off).
"I am not worried about our opponent; we will be playing our game. I have best youngsters in my ranks along with some experienced seniors," Vasco head coach Eban Misquita said on the eve of the match. "However, there are two injuries in the squad, a midfielder and a defender is injured. So we will take a final call on them tomorrow."
Vasco did not
enjoy their pre-season at their best as they had experienced mixed luck with two defeats at the start at the hands of Salgaocar FC and FC Goa, followed by a commanding 3-1 win over FC Goa. Their last two friendlies ended in a hard fought 2-2 draws against Corps of Signals and Guardian Angel SC.
"This is our first match and I have not seen Vasco playing. So we will go out there and play our style of football. We had a very good pre-season and I will be happy to see my boys carry on that form," Sporting Clube head coach Mateus Costa said.
Costa has managed to build a strong team roping in Peter Carvalho, Alesh Sawant and Girish Naik from FC Bardez. While, he has also managed to retain most of their last season's players which helped them to finish runners-up in the Goa Professional League 2016-17, making them one of the strong sides in the Goan football.
Sporting had a very successful pre-season, compared to the Port Towners as they were unbeaten in their all five matches. Their last win came against Corps, whom they beat 2-0.
It was 3-0 in the favour of the Panaji-based club when Sporting and Vasco had met in the Goa Pro League match last December. However, Vasco assistant coach-cum-player Mickey Fernandes is expecting a good fight between the two sides.
"I expect a good showdown from the boys. They are giving more than 100% in the practice sessions and trying hard to prove their calibre to get into the starting XI. I think this positive attitude will help the team to perform well," Fernandes said.
"This is our first match and I have not seen Vasco playing. So we will go out there and play our style of football. We had a very good pre-season and I will be happy to see my boys carry on that form," Sporting Clube head coach Mateus Costa said.
Costa has managed to build a strong team roping in Peter Carvalho, Alesh Sawant and Girish Naik from FC Bardez. While, he has also managed to retain most of their last season's players which helped them to finish runners-up in the Goa Professional League 2016-17, making them one of the strong sides in the Goan football.
Sporting had a very successful pre-season, compared to the Port Towners as they were unbeaten in their all five matches. Their last win came against Corps, whom they beat 2-0.
It was 3-0 in the favour of the Panaji-based club when Sporting and Vasco had met in the Goa Pro League match last December. However, Vasco assistant coach-cum-player Mickey Fernandes is expecting a good fight between the two sides.
"I expect a good showdown from the boys. They are giving more than 100% in the practice sessions and trying hard to prove their calibre to get into the starting XI. I think this positive attitude will help the team to perform well," Fernandes said.
