The kick-off for which is slated at 9:30 PM IST.

With 11 players coming from AIFF’s developmental side, the Indian Arrows, that participated in the Hero I-League and notched up some bright results under their belt including a win against Mohun Bagan, Derrick is aiming to build for the future with the core of the squad coming from the Arrows project.

Pereira shared, “They (young players) are our future. It’s not only about the match against Qatar or the U-23 Championship qualifiers. We should have a long term plan for them so that they can excel in future. The experience of representing the nation in the U-17 FIFA World Cup would help them improve on and off the pitch. If they are provided with the right kind of experience and exposure regularly, India football will go a long way.”

Incidentally, India faced Qatar in the AFC U-23 Championship qualifiers of the previous edition at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium Stadium in Doha on July 21, 2017. Almoez Ali, who broke Ali Daei’s record of scoring the highest number of goals in a single edition of AFC Asian Cup recently, scored the solitary goal for the Gulf nation to pip India that day.

“We are primarily focusing on finding the right combination and our style of game. Uzbekistan are the reigning U-23 Asian champions and Tajikistan are a respectable side as well who we’re going to face in the qualifiers. We can gauge ourselves after the Qatar game and as I’ve said, we’ll focus more on our game rather than our opponents”, Pereira stated.

The 23-member-squad is as follows:

GOALKEEPERS: Dheeraj Singh, Prabhsukhan Gill.

DEFENDERS: Narender, Sarthak Golui, Wungngayam Muirang, Mehtab Singh, Anwar Ali, Asish Rai.

MIDFIELDERS: Jerry Mawihmingthanga, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Vinit Rai, Sahal Abdul, Amarjit Singh, Deepak Tangri, Rohit Kumar, Suresh Singh, Komal Thatal, Boris Singh, Rahul KP.

FORWARDS: Liston Colaco, Daniel Lalhlimpuia, Rahim Ali, Rohit Danu.

AIFF MEDIA

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During the course of the campaign, Indian Arrows have beaten defending champions Minverva Punjab FC, Shillong Lajong (twice), Gokulam Kerala, and former champions Aizawl FC and Mohun Bagan.

Both coaches Khalid Jamil and Floyd Pinto went for wholesale changes at the start of the game, making seven and six respectively, in a fixture essentially between two sides assured of a mid-table finish.

The first half did not see the game reach great heights but the young Arrows certainly looked the more enterprising, creating several openings to score.

The home team, though, took the lead in the 17th minute through Azharuddin Mallick after a move initiated by Sony Norde, saw the Hiatian winger play off Henry Kisseka, run in and cross from the left of the Arrows box. Kisseka missed the first bit, but the talented Under-22 youngster was at hand to slot it home.

The Arrows hit back in the 28th minute when an Anwar Ali free-kick was fumbled by keeper Ricardo Cardozo, before Abhijeet Sarkar struck off the rebound.

As the players came on for the second half, Mohun Bagan coach Khaleed Jamil brought on Cameroonian striker Dipanda Dicka, expressing clear intentions. He also replaced goal-scorer Mallick with Egyptian playmaker Omar Elhussieny.

However, Floyd Pinto’s team was not to be bogged down and after initial Bagan forays, it was the Indian Arrows who went ahead in the 74th minute after a brilliantly-crafted move, executed with pace.

Substitute Neenthoi, who had come in barely two minutes earlier, played the pass from midfield finding Boris in space on the right. The right-wing back made a purposeful run into the box, looked up and found an onrushing Rahul KP with the cutback. Rahul made no mistake with a calm and composed finish.

The young guns secured the three points in injury time. In a seemingly harmless defensive position, keeper Cordozo, who had a forgetful day, came out of his area to clear the ball with his head straight onto a waiting Rohit Danu, who slotted from distance into an empty goal.

Both Bagan and Arrows remain in sixth and seventh positions, respectively, with the gap between the two now narrowed to five points.

Also Read: East Bengal deliver KO to Real Kashmir!

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The game is scheduled for a 5 PM IST kick-off.

Mohun Bagan currently sit in the sixth spot with 26 points from 18 matches while Floyd Pinto-coached Indian Arrows are a spot behind on seventh with 18 points from 19 matches.

Indian Arrows coach Floyd Pinto said in the pre-match press conference, “Definitely the campaign has been more successful than last season, we are not concerned about the relegation though we are fighting for it. The boys are only getting better with time.”

“Mohun Bagan will be playing at their home ground which will be an advantage for them, but we are hoping to get the three points tomorrow. The attitude of the boys is much more positive. We are looking forward to the Hero Super Cup and I am confident with our abilities for tomorrow’s match.”

Mohun Bagan will start favorites though. However, their record of one defeat, one draw and one win in their last three games will be worrisome for their form, while Indian Arrows have lost two and drawn one going into Thursday’s game.

Cameroonian striker Dipanda Dicka’s double strike had settled the issue in the first-leg clash between the two sides. Khalid Jamil, looking for nothing less than a win said, “We are prepared for tomorrow’s match. We have to fight as we fought before and will be playing with a good team and the opponents should not be taken lightly. They are young and fight for every ball. This is our last home match of this season and we should be at our best.”

On the other hand, the Arrows have exhibited no fear of losing and will look to finish on a high. Coach Floyd Pinto could be proud of his work for the season and that of his boys and a win in the last game against Bagan will be the proverbial icing on the cake.

Also Read: ISL title will make consistent Goa complete

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Chennai City FC, who have been leading the pack since the start of the season, have 40 points under their belt from 17 games. Second-placed Real Kashmir FC is seven adrift of them whereas Quess East Bengal is eight points shy of the pole.

Mohun Bagan whose league hope has blown up long ago will stay stranded in the sixth spot with 26 points from 18 matches.

Chennai City FC fired in three quick goals through Sandro (8′), Nestor Gordillo (15′) and Pedro Manzi (23′). William Lalnunfela got the only consolation goal in the 37th minute but the damage has been already done by then.

Nestor Gordillo who was in the staggering form since the kick-off scored one and created a couple to pave the win for his team. He was bestowed with the Hero of the Match silver ball and the cheque for his annihilating display tonight.

Attacks in regular intervals through the combination of Edwin, Nestor, and Manzi seemed threatening enough for Mohun Bagan who seemed to falter in their defence but somehow kept the charging southerners from scoring the first in the first 5 minutes.

Chennai’s efforts soon yielded result breaking into the defence line of Mohun Bagan when Nestor chipped it from the center-circle over Mohun Bagan goalie Shilton Paul to draw the first blood in the 8th minute.

Chennai continued their free-flowing football and took only six minutes to double the lead. On a quick counter-attacking move, Ajitkumar and Nestor played a 1-2 to take it forward. Nestor darted in a terrific pass to an onrushing Sandro who did no mistake to rattle the net in the 14th minute.

Mohun Bagan seemed to be rattled and unable to work around an alternative to counter the continuous attacks from Chennai City FC and matters got worse when Chennai City FC pumped in their third goal in the 23rd Minute through Pedro Manzi to take the scoreline to 3-0 with still two quarters to go for the first half.

Nestor took it on his own to cut in from the left before passing it to Pedro Manzi who was surprisingly left completely unmarked. Manzi kept his calm to net his 19th goal of the league to put his team in the driver’s seat.

William Lalnunfella came to the rescue of the visitors when he scored a brilliant goal on the rebound in the 37th minute to bring some hope to the Mariners’ squad.

While the first half was eventful in Chennai City stamping their authority owning the lions share of possession the second half started with Mohun Bagan trying to stage a comeback into the game, but lack of a good finish restricted them from reducing the two-goal deficit.

Chennai City FC, on the other hand, kept up with their ante and kept pressing hard at short intervals but somewhere could not find a good finish to increase the lead.

The game got into an interesting turn in the 79th minute when Nestor fed Manzi with a sublime through ball to see the latter gunning down to score his second. Shilton Paul, who didn’t have a nice outing tonight, couldn’t do much but push the onrushing Manzi outside the box which left the referee Santosh Kumar with no other option but to give him the marching orders.

Ricardo Cardozo was brought in to safeguard the woodwork immediately and the youngster somehow managed to restrict the scoreline unchanged until the final whistle.

Chennai City FC will now fly to goa to face Red Machines on 1st March whereas the Mariners will host Indian Arrows on the last day of February.

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Rahul K.P. scored for Arrows in the first half. Trinidadian striker Marcu Leric Joseph’s second half goal denied Arrows a repeat result of the previous leg. It was his fourth goal in as many games.

The game was a dour affair as both teams played without inspiration. The fact that both teams are already out of the reckoning for the title must have contributed to it.

Gokulam is 10th in the league table after 16 games and Arrows is on seventh after 18 games.

Floyd Pinto’s Arrows made four changes to their starting XI from the previous game. They brought back Prabhsukan Gill in goal for Samik Mitra who had started in the game against Chennai.

Deepak Tangri, Rahim Ali and Rahul KP replaced Jitendra Singh, Suresh Singh, and Ninthoi in the playing XI.

Gokulam under the tutelage of Technical Director Gift Raikhan made only one change, with Suhair replacing Brazilian midfielder Guilherme Castro.

Arrows withstood early pressure from Gokulam and took the lead in the 22nd minute through Rahul K.P.

Ashish Rai delivered the cross from the right flank to Rahim Ali positioned inside the box, wide on the left. Rahim brought down a cushioned header towards Rahul, who made a run from the middle of the box. The ball landed to Rahul who had to check his run with his back towards goal. He swiveled and volleyed on the turn to beat keeper Arnab Das Sharma all ends up.

Arrows took the one-goal lead into the break.

Gokulam got the equalizer in the 64th minute through Joseph — the top scorer of the Trinidadian pro-league.

Substitute Arjun Jayaraj made the initial foray with a run down the left of the box. His ball intended for Marcus was cut-off by the Arrows defence. It came back off a defender and fell to Joseph who drilled the ball home with a left-footed strike.

Fabian denied Arrows the second goal in the 70th minute with a brilliant goalline save.

Joseph — the ‘Hero of the Game’ — missed a golden chance to win the game in the dying moments.

Also Read: Late Singh goal helps Bagan beat Aizawl

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It may be noted that the title aspirations of both teams are long gone. The game kicks off at 5 pm IST.

Gokulam missed their earlier game against Aizawl FC at Kozhikode after being stuck in Srinagar due to heavy snowfall. The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has rescheduled the game for February 28 at the same venue.

Arrows had beaten Gokulam 1-0 in the previous leg thanks to Amarjit Singh Kiyam’s goal.

The home team is currently in 10th spot having garnered 12 points from their 15 games so far. Despite reining in Gift Raikhan as Technical Director, they have not been able to get back to winning ways. They last won a game almost three months back!

Arrows, on the other hand, have bounced back from early losses and are in a respectable seventh position on the table. They have five wins to go with 11 losses and a draw.

Gokulam gained two points in their last six games. It came after four straight losses! In their previous game, they lost to Real Kashmir in chilling weather conditions amid a mix of rain and snowfall.

The only silver lining for Gokulam in recent times has been Marcus Joseph, the top scorer of the Trinidadian pro-league. He scored twice for his new club in four games.

Precocious talents like Rajesh, Arjun Jayaraj, VP Suhair, Gani Nigam and Baoringdao Bodo should help them get a positive result on Saturday.

Raikhan had a clear objective in mind at the pre-game presser: “We will be playing a home match tomorrow. It is a vital match for us as we need three points. We have prepared ourselves for tomorrow’s match and the boys are ready with full motivation. Tactically, physically and mentally, we are ready for tomorrow’s match. We have five matches remaining in our hand one is away and four at home. We will collect as many points as we can and try to be in the top six so that we can go directly to the Super Cup.”

Arrows have steadily improved and it has resulted in growing confidence levels. Although they lost 2-0 against Chennai City in their previous game, they made the league leaders sweat for the full 90 minutes. Sandro’s moment of brilliance turned the game in Chennai’s favor.

Their coach Floyd Pinto expressed confidence at the press conference: “Expecting a similar kind of match and hoping to get the same result as last year. We are going to work really hard. We aim to finish as high as we can in the table. If we can get any points from tomorrow’s match it will help us. We are in the 7th position, but we have played more matches. We have three matches left and we will try to give our best. The boys have kept improving and they are more comfortable this season. Most of our games have been fine margins.”

A good game is on cards as both teams look eager to improve their respective positions in the league table.

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The 2-1 result was the same as the earlier game at Kolkata’s Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK) where East Bengal had lost after taking the lead.

Chennai’s Spanish striker Pedro Manzi scored his 11th goal of the season while Romario Jesuraj also scored to take the hosts to the top of the 12th Hero I-League, five points ahead of second-placed Churchill Brothers.

East Bengal are on sixth with a game in hand. Despite Laldanmawia Ralte’s fourth goal of the season their hopes of winning a first ever I-League trophy looks like a mirage.

Both teams made one change to their starting eleven. East Bengal coach Alejandro Garcia was forced to replace Lalram Chullova (suspended after a red-card in the game against Indian Arrows) with Samad Ali Mallick.

Chennai coach Akbar Nawas, on the other hand, played Pravitto Raju in place of Shem Martin Eugene.

East Bengal took an early lead in the ninth minute. As defender Borja desperately headed back across goal in a bid to clear…the ball fell to Ralte who nodded home from close range!

Chennai upped the ante as they searched for an equalizer. A wonderful pass from Roberto Eslava found its way into the box to Nestor only for Samad to shield him away in the nick of time.

As Sandro unleashed a rasping drive from outside the box East Bengal goalkeeper Dagar executed a fine save in the 34th minute. Though Chennai were a goal down into the break they clearly were the better team.

They equalized in the 49th minute thanks to Manzi’s 11th goal of the season. That strike made him the season’s joint top-scorer with Churchill’s Willis Plaza.

Romario Jesuraj had pulled the ball back for an onrushing Edwin Vanspaul in the build-up to the goal. And as Vanspaul’s strike deflected off Manzi and wrong-footed Dagar…Chennai had equalized!

The hosts later went ahead thanks to a brilliant tactical change by Nawas. Raju was sent wide on the right and Romario Jesuraj was brought in-field.

A failed interception by East Bengal left back Manoj Mohammad allowed Raju to lay it off for Romario who shot to the top right past a befuddled Dagar!

Romario Jesuraj was adjudged the ‘Hero of the Match’.

Both teams play their next game in four days’ time. Chennai play Aizawl at home while East Bengal face an in-form Indian Arrows in Kolkata.

Also Read: HERO I-LEAGUE: Norde magic helps Bagan down Neroca FC

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Vikram Pratap Singh (18th minute), Lalengmawia (32nd minute) and Ninthoi (45 + 3 minutes) scored for Arrows.

Arrows pressed hard right from the start and went on the offensive.

They constantly troubled the Lajong defence but were found wanting for a good finish.

Such was the nature of Arrows’ early blitz that it took Lajong a while to regroup!

Lajong missed a great chance to score when Kitrboklang fluffed his lines in the 11th minute.

Arrows opened the scoring when Singh’s superb header found the back of the net in the 18th minute.

Aashish Rai provided the assist with a fine cross!

Shillong for all of their efforts couldn’t go past the strong Arrows defence.

Arrows scored again when Lalengmawia hit home off Singh’s pass in the 32nd minute.

Credit to Arrows goalkeeper Prabhsukhan Gill who denied Lajong a comeback goal.

Arrows made it 3-0 at the end of the first half when Ninthoi found the back of the net from a rebound.

Though Lajong introduced Phrangki Buam in the second-half it didn’t work as the Arrows’ back-line held firm.

The home team did create a few chances but were denied a fourth goal by Lajong.

A focused Lajong defence kept the bristling Arrows strike-force at bay in the second-half.

Optea and Buam failed to score off a simple chance in the 74th minute. A goal then would have given Lajong a glimmer of hope!

Arrows dominated the game throughout while defensive lapses cost Lajong the game.

Lalengmawia was adjudged the ‘Hero of the Match’.

Also Read: HERO I-LEAGUE: Norde magic helps Bagan down Neroca FC

Also Read: HERO I-LEAGUE: Real Kashmir inch closer to top after Aizawl stalemate

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Under Alison Kharsyntiew, Shillong, who opted for youth as against foreign recruits this season, find themselves at the bottom of the 11-team league. They have suffered nine losses and have conceded a whopping 33 goals so far – the highest in the league!

Their only win (against Aizawl in October 2018) seems like ages ago. Shillong have been on the receiving end of two 6-1 drubbings this season – a fact which highlights their predicament.

They also had lost their previous away game against Arrows. Arrows, on the other hand, have been impressive throughout with the team seemingly hungry for success. Of course credit must go to coach Floyd Pinto for shaping a resilient and competitive side.

Also the inclusion of U-16 youngsters Vikram Pratap Singh and Rohit Danu has given them the much needed attacking zest to blend in with their organised defence and midfield.

“Shillong Lajong play good attacking football. Any game between the two elite youth clubs is going to be tough. Both the teams will be giving their 100 per cent. We scored in our last game but it was pretty close. Our aim will be to get the three points. The game tomorrow will be totally different because both the teams are having young players. These kinds of matches give them a platform to play with good players and bigger football clubs,” said Pinto.

Arrows have beaten the likes of Aizawl, Gokulam and Shillong and have given the stronger teams (read: East Bengal and Minerva Punjab) a run for their money. Shillong too have had their positives. They have scored 13 goals to Arrows’ five — a fact which showcases their attacking prowess.

Midfielder Phrangki Buam —  one of the finds of the season — is among the highest scorers in the league with four goals. Shillong’s young brigade will be wanting to avenge their previous loss to Arrows on Sunday.

Kharsyntiew was optimistic about his team’s chances at the pregame press conference: “We have scored 13 goals and conceded 33. The most important thing for the boys is to attack in the defence. If our defence is good we can defeat any team. The boys are ready for tomorrow’s match they will go all out and give their 100 percent. The players have worked really hard in the training and our aim is to get the three points. Indian Arrows is a good team they have good players like Boris. Their game is very intense with immense speed, our defence and mid field have to cope up to their speed.”

Also Read: HERO I-LEAGUE: Bagan down Minerva to stay alive in title race

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Laldanmawia (penalty) and Jobby Justin scored for East Bengal in the 26th and 64th minutes respectively. Ninthoi (penalty) scored the only goal for Arrows in the 90th minute.

Arrows’ resolute defending and East Bengal’s experienced play ensured that a chunk of the game was played out in midfield. Vikram Pratap’s failed effort was Arrows’ best chance to score in the first-half.

East Bengal, on the other hand, played from the midfield and tried to score on the counter. And the tactic paid off when Laldanmawia scored in the 26th minute after a superb assist from Jaime Santos.

It could have been two-nil to the visitors if Didicka hadn’t missed from the spot in the 30th minute. Full marks to Arrows goalkeeper Prabhsukhan Gill for his fantastic save!

Despite stout defending by Arrows the first-half ended 1-0 in East Bengal’s favor.

Arrows missed chances in front of goal as they searched for an equalizer in the second-half. And that laxity hurt them as East Bengal scored their second thanks to Jobby Justin’s effort off a rebound in the 64th minute.

Gill was partly at fault (for the goal) as he failed to latch on to the ball while attempting a save.

The game took a physical turn when East Bengal’s Lalram Chullova (56th minute) and Arrows’ Aniket Jadhav (84th minute) got their marching orders from the referee.

Though Arrows did score late on still it was too little too late. Jobby Justin was adjudged as the ‘Hero of the Match’.

Also Read: HERO I-LEAGUE: Last chance saloon for Bagan and Minerva

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