Pre-Game Quips: Zico and Vingada's exchange of words before NEUFC and Goa go head to head

MATCHDAY 4 DOESNT BEGIN BEFORE 19:00 TONIGHT but the volley of words between both teams has already begun.

This is NEUFC's second game of ISL 3 and FC Goa's first. Both teams  meeting each other for the 5th time since the competition began in 2014. FC Goa have turned out to be the undefeated side on all four occasions with 2 victories and 2 draws. As for how this particular match is likely to play out, you can get a fair idea from our MATCH PREVIEW.

On the unbeaten run of FC Goa against NEUFC 

Vingada seemed to say with fervour,

 "This season there is a new coach [at NEUFC], new ideas so I hope we can break that trend. "

Zico, on the same was not paying much attention to history said,

"Every year is a different story. We don’t want to think too much about what happened in the past." 

On the upcoming challenge

"I always tell my players the next game is the most important as well as the most difficult. The game before against Kerala is gone, nothing can be changed and there is no time to think about the future games, hence our concentration is on the game against Goa." said Vingada.

"Zico on the other hand spoke high with lots of confidence 
"We just play for now and we play to win all the games and doesn’t matter who is the opponent"

Being NEUFC'S second game in a span of three days, could be a disadvantage on not having much recovery time. FC Goa come in fresh for this one.

On advantages and tight schedules

"In normal competitions 72 hours in considered the minimum time to recover. It will be difficult for us but we will compensate with our spirit and our fight", said Vingada. 

"It is some advantage but not a complete advantage because I have coached in some countries for the first time and we have been champions there. Having good players, and that they make good interpretation of the plan and training is most important. That is the best and most important advantage. I hope his knowledge of Indian football doesn't play a big part in the game"

"Playing at home is an obvious advantage, also playing a game already in the league gives a better reading of the competition because Goa have not yet played. Goa also have an advantage as their players would be fresher than our players because the first game was very intense and hard, since it was so early in the league and the players were not ready to play at that intensity for 90 minutes"

Pondering on the same topic, Zico said

“It is a normal standard time. Everywhere in the world, they do this. We are going to do it four times at home. To play in 72 hours. So I think it is better if you do it at the beginning of the league because everyone wants to play. If you tell them, play every day, they are going to play every day now. And for us, we are going to do this towards the end of the league. That’s when players are injured. So it is not a positive point for us and not even a negative point for NEUFC. It’s a normal thing.”

Plagued with some injured and recuperating players could make a difference in the line ups.

On Injuries

"Didier Zokora [marquee] is not fit yet and Robert Cullen is coming in. Also, Seityasen Singh was a little bit jaded in the last game and he is unlikely for the game tomorrow." replied Vingada.

With respect to the same, Zico said,

"Unfortunately, we don’t have our full squad because we have some injuries and all but this is one thing we are used to in this league. However, we are prepared to play.ico: Unfortunately, we don’t have our full squad because we have some injuries and all but this is one thing we are used to in this league. However, we are prepared to play."

"It was not a problem because some of these player were not picked before. And the club had to take some decisions and they were picked. Subhashish is a player that I know very well. He went with us to Brazil, to see if we could help him recover from his knee injuries. He has recovered but he has other problems, one chronical problem he has had in the past and we lost him there.
Robin played all the matches with us in Brazil but after arriving here he had some problems in his hamstrings during warm-ups. Denzil had some muscle problems, and needs to take care of them. These are problems that happen with players that have had knee injuries. They recover from these injuries and stay off the game for a long time and then when they play again they feel they have another problem.”

The Portuguese, Vingada, was asked to share his pick of his starting 11 replied,

“With the squad that I have, I trust that all players can make the starting XI. I am pretty sure that only with Indian players, we have the capacity to present a good XI… We surely have to make one or two player changes, nothing more than that hopefully,”

NEUFC playing their second game within 3 days will be riding high in confidence with the first victory in their kitty. FC Goa being one of the better performing teams from the past seasons are looking to carry that in their stride this season as well.