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What's the story?
Aizawl FC will face Kolkata giants East Bengal in their opening tie in Kolkata on Tuesday. The I-League will return to the Yuba Bharati Krirangan after quite some time, as East Bengal get ready to welcome Aizawl FC to the iconic arena. Ahead of the season opener, Aizwal FC coach Paulo Jorge Coelho Meneses confessed that they ready to compete against any team.
In case you didn't know...
Aizawl FC scripted their names in the history books last season, winning the I-League, to re-create a Leicester City-moment in the Indian domestic circuit. They leapt over their closest contenders Mohun Bagan by virtue of a better goal difference to take the I-League trophy to the North-East region for the first time.
The heart of the matter
Meneses has done his homework and is aware of how the East Bengal play. When asked about his approach to the game, he said, “We have had information about East Bengal to prepare for the game, we know how they play, we know about the best players but of course the most important is the team as a whole, not just two or three players.”
Being the defending champions, the visiting team will have an added pressure to perform, but the coach is confident they rise to the occasion.
“It’s a very good challenge to us, to the coach, to the players and not only East Bengal; we are going to be difficult in all the matches as every team would like to defeat the defending champions. We are ready to compete against any team in the I-League," said the Aizwal FC coach in the pre-match conference.
The Portuguese coach has faith in his young guns and admitted that their local players are the best in the country, and is quite happy with their performance.
With Aizawl FC simultaneously playing the Mizoram Premier League and the I-League now, keeping all the players fit becomes an issue.
Meneses said that they have prepared their team keeping these issues in mind. Not only that, they will also feature in the AFC Champions League in January next year.
What's next?
East Bengal are a pretty balanced side and surely will have the upper hand in their opening tie. Not only that, Aizawl’s former coach Khalid Jamil is now East Bengal’s coach. To add to that, Japanese Katsumi Yusa will be a big threat to the visitors’ defence.
However, Aizawl will fancy their chances if Liberian Alfred Jayran and Japanese Yugo Kobayashi create chances up front. The strong home support at the majestic Salt Lake Stadium will make it seem all the more difficult for Aizawl.
Author's take
Aizawl FC may be the defending champions, but they have an uphill task in terms of title defence as they will be missing the cream players, who were responsible for their success in the last edition.
Most importantly, they would be missing Khalid Jamil, who was the mastermind for them in their I-League triumph. On top of that, playmaker Mahmoud Amnah has shifted loyalties to Kolkata giants East Bengal, while defender Kinglsey Obumneme and Ricky Lallawmawma will represent Mohun Bagan this year.
