NorthEast United coach Nelo Vingada seemed elated having seen his side comeback from a goal down. Having seen his side concede in the first half though a Kean Lewis goal, he praised his side’s battling style to equalize through Alfaro in the second half.
Speaking after the game, Vingada said, “I am so proud of this team and that the ISL should be happy about such a fantastic game.” The current coach is a well-travelled manager, having been involved with a number of sides across Europe and Asia. He praised the standard of the ISL and how the game was a good advert for the league.
The former Iran Olympic team coach, spoke about targeting the playoffs and how his team showed commitment and passion. In the aftermath, maybe it was too much passion that resulted in his side picking up 5 yellow cards.
He repeatedly congratulated his players and said he was proud of how the team is “growing day by day”.
When questioned about the performance of his goalkeeper, Subrata Paul whose mistake resulted in Delhi Dynamos taking the lead. The coach remained positive, stating, “Subrata made some crucial saves in the goal”. He lauded the goalkeeper for his performance picking out the 48th minute save against Gadze as a marker. Additionally, he stated that Subrata continues to be an integral member of the squad.
The coach was also quizzed about Rowlin Borges. Instead, he chose to focus on all players and stated that there is no disparity when it comes to picking the side. He stated, “For me, all players are the same and everyone is equal irrespective of their nationality”.
Vingado talked about how the entire team is a family and how the stated objective of qualifying for the play-offs is the collective objective of the entire team. He praised the fighting spirit of his players and pointed out that his side did create the better opportunities.
Stating that tiredness is an obvious factor given that NorthEast have already played 5 games over the course of two weeks while for Delhi Dynamos it was only their third game. As a result, in the first half NorthEast adopted a counter-attacking style before unleashing their pressing game in the second half which resulted in the equalizer.
“Our fitness was better than expected and we had a better reaction” stated the coach when quizzed about the fixture schedule. When quizzed about his attacking trio (of Velez, Alfaro and Yusa), he described them as fantastic and stated the importance of each player and even described the nationality of Yusa as Irish-Japanese.
The coach seemed in a happy mood as he entertained questions and welcomed the rest that his team will be afforded as they next take on Chennaiyin FC in a home fixture on 20th October.
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