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It’s been quite a journey for NorthEast United, who has a terrible start to the league but later regained composure and after beating FC Pune City yesterday, now they wait till the weekend to know their fate.
“We said from the very beginning that this is a very even league…We had some difficulties in the beginning with injuries and missing some players but the team grew with the season and we got stronger. We are still alive, we have a chance and that’s football, right? Now we have to wait and see what happens,” said Cesar Farias in the post match conference.
FC Pune City have to beat Chennaiyin on Saturday if NorthEast are to move into semis and Coach David Platt knows that the very team who defeated them will now be counting on them. On being asked about the same and about the match, Platt said: “Full credit to NorthEast United FC. They have got themselves into fourth place and it’s up to us on Saturday to do something that keeps them there. But we would not do it for NorthEast, we will do it for ourselves.”
“You play 14 games in this league, not 13. We’ve got to give it the utmost respect, both in terms of our preparation, which starts now, in terms of our recovery and we will travel back to Pune tomorrow and we will be on the training pitch on Friday. We will try to recover on Friday and I will try to pick a football team on Saturday against Chennai and that’s the way it is,” he further said.
Meanwhile NorthEast coach Cesar Farias also made sure he thanked the team’s fans who stood by them throughout the tournament. “I want to thank all the eight states that form the NorthEast team and specially the city of Guwahati. It has been our home for the last couple of months. I hope destiny gives us the chance to give the fans one more game. We have performed much better this year. There has been a tremendous improvement in the Indian players of NorthEast United FC,” he said.
Furthermore he did hope for Pune to beat Chennaiyin as he said, “Statistics say that Pune are very strong at home. Their players gave their best today. They are a very good team, they fought until the last minute. And we are convinced that they will do everything possible to win the next game. In football, there’s a lot of honour and prestige. This is a young league and it deserves a good game for the final open spot for the semis.”
