MARGAO
Five-time champions Dempo Sports Club will play away to United Sports Club Kolkata, at Kalyani Stadium, Kolkata, on Sunday March 24.
Dempo are looking forward to present a strong match to make up for the points they dropped in the earlier rounds in order to cling on to their chance of qualifying for the I-League.
Dempo are fifth place with 5 matches with 7 points while United Sports Club are on fourth place with 7 points from 6 matches. The Golden Eagles will however miss the services of midfielder Vinay Haji Harji who is out for four weeks as he suffered injury during the Santosh Trophy campaign and central defender Mohammed Ali due to a double booking.
Dempo head coach Samir Naik are keen on collecting three points. Speaking ahead of the match, Dempo head coach Naik described the match as a decisive clash for his side’s campaign, “We trust ourselves a lot and all players who are with us at the moment. We are preparing well for the match against United Sports Club and our goal will be the three points,” Samir Naik said.
Dempo head coach termed United Sports Club match important, hoping for a better performance from his side.“We committed some mistakes against earlier matches therefore we tried during the preparations to correct these mistakes so that they would not be repeated again,” said Naik.
"This match will give us the motivation to develop and is considered a high-level match, which will make us strive to win it. We will focus on developing the level and achieving positive results, and I am confident that the team players will enter the match with focus and seriousness, this match will be preparation for our next matches.”
Naik expressed his confidence in the ability of his teammates to achieve a positive result. “The match will not be easy, even if our chances of advancing to the next round diminish, but it is a match that requires us to focus and perform well in order to achieve victory. This situation usually motivates these teams to present a competitive level with the rest of the teams," Naik concluded.
