Khalid Jamil wary of ‘great’ Sporting Clube de Goa side

by Kaushal Shukla February 14, 2016

Mumbai FC coach Khalid Jamil is quite wary of his opponents Sporting Clube de Goa as they prepare to clash in a seventh round encounter of the 2015-2016 AIFF Hero I-League football tournament, to be played at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Fatorda,  Margao, Goa on Sunday. The match kicks off at 7.05 pm.

“Sporting Clube are a great team and I’m impressed with their recent showing. They have done a good job, especially in the last two games in which they played very good football. They are a tough side and it’s not going to be an easy match,” Jamil mentioned at the pre-match press briefing in the evening.

Jamil also pointed out that Sporting have a lot of experience in the attack and that is their strong point. “They (Sporting Clube) have a very good attack with Nigerian Odafa (Okolie) and Trinadad & Tobago’s Densil (Theobald) being their main strikers,” he stated. Odafa scored both the goals in Sporting Clube’s 2-1 win over Bengaluru FC last week.

The Mumbai strikers have not scored in the last two games but coach Jamil was not too concerned. “Yes, we have not scored in the previous two games, but that’s not a worry. We have to try and score in tomorrow’s match if we hope to win,” he said.

The Mumbai coach was pleased with the weather, but sounded a bit cautious of playing at the Fatorda ground. “The weather is pleasant and perfect for playing good football. But it’s not easy playing on this ground. We have to work extra hard and have to fight if we have to win and get the three points,” he further stated.

However, Mumbai FC will once again miss the service of their influential linkman and skipper Taisuke Matsugae, who is still nursing a sore calf injury, picked up in the match against DSK Shivajians last week. Another player who will be missed is the young dashing forward Jayesh Rane, who is on National duty with the Indian team participating in the SAG Games in Guwahati.

Jamil said that the replacements have done good job and that he is expected to retain the same team which drew goalless against Mohun Bagan early this week.

The Goan coach Mateus Costa believes that Mumbai FC are a much better side this time and is expecting a tough game even though his team has been playing quality football. “Mumbai FC are a much improved side. They have been playing very well this season so it going to be a very important match for us. We, too, have been playing quality football but more important for us is to win three points rather than being impressive,” he stated.

The Jamil coached Mumbai outfit having played six games are currently in fourth position with nine points from two wins and two draws and a lone defeat against DSK Shivajians and will be aiming for a positive outcome against the Goan club. On the other hand the Goans are one rung below in 5^th place with 8 points from six outings.

In the last two meetings between the teams last season, both the matches finished in draws (1-1 in Goa and 0-0  in Mumbai).