PRE-SEASON TEST: After heart-warming wins in cold weather, NorthEast ready to face heat
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NORTHEAST UNITED ARE APPROACHING THIS season with a lot of fresh ideas, many of them instilled by the newly-arrived Venezuelan manager, Cesar Farias. They have retained 7 promising players from the first season and re-built their squad by focusing on youth and prowess, while maintaining a home-grown backbone of Indian players just like last year.
And to weave this collective of players into a cohesive unit they have decided to put a lot more effort into their pre-season than last year. Earlier in August, after assembling their new-look squad, they began their first phase of pre-season practices: a closed-door conditioning camp in Guwahati, where they focused on post-summer fitness enhancement trainings and basic technical football practice.
But their real efforts started off late in August when they flew to Durban, South Africa, to train in some of the advanced facilities over there. They also had a series of pre-season friendlies lined up to test themselves as a team before the ISL season gets off the ground.
Their first friendly was against Maritzburg United, a club based in Pietermaritzburg that plays in the Premier Soccer League of South Africa. The match, played on the 6th of September, saw the Indian side struggle to get their defence in order, pushed on the backfoot for almost the entire game as the Maritzburg striking force pressed in. The game resulted in a 3-0 loss for the Highlanders.
South Africa, a country ranked 72 in the world, has much higher standards in their domestic top-flight league, so the shaky start to the NEUFC season was understandable. But testing themselves against difficult opponents was what they were there to do, so they went right ahead to take on another Premier Soccer League side Amazulu FC, one of the oldest football clubs in the country, 3 days later.
The heavily-fought match saw a dramatic turnaround from the John Abraham-owned team. They started the game on a high note, putting pressure on the hosts from the outset, and soon enough, took a lead through their marquee winger Simao Sabrosa. Nicolas Velez extended the lead right after the second half and soon there was an Indian on the scoresheet too; Siam Hangahal, the young central medio on loan from Bengaluru FC, scored their third goal. Late in the game, Amazulu FC got one back on the Highlanders through a penalty. But by then the fate of the game was already sealed. NEUFC had earned their first pre-season victory, by a 3-1 margin.
After this there was no looking back. They played a select Ethekwini XI team on 12th September, whom they dominated. On the cold, harsh Durban night NEUFC initially came under pressure from the host team's forward line but soon turned the game around with Simao Sabrosa once again opening the scoring for the Highlanders. Soon afterwards, Diomansy Kamara picked up an ankle sprain from a tackle and was taken off as a pracautionary measure, sending Nicolas Velez on the field instead. The Argentine arrived, saw and scored, sending the visitors 2-0 up before half-time.
The start of the second half saw another period of pressure from Ethekwini until midfielder Alen Deory brushed past a defender and slotted another one right in. Then it was Velez again, who tapped a fourth one home to give NEUFC a wholesome 4-0 win.
Their next match was against a lower league side, Cherrians FC on 18th September. Alen Deory scored, again. Nicolas Velez scored twice yet again. Francis Dadzie got his first pre-season goal. Kondwani Mtonga got one too. The goalfest ended in a 6-1 win for the Highlanders.
NEUFC played their last pre-season friendly in South Africa against another lower league club Summerfield Dynamos on the 21st. That one ended in a 4-1 win, with a goal apiece from Bruno Arias, Francis Dadzie, Aiborlang Khongjee, and Boithang Haokip. This brought an end to what was a quite fruitful pre-season for the Highlanders.
The only worry manager Farias will have now is whether or not the team can replicate that kind of form in India now. Durban is quite cold at this time of the year, and Farias is aware of the Indian heat. Back in 2011, when he was the Venezuela national team manager, his team played an international friendly against Argentina in Kolkata. That match saw players tire out quickly from the heat and frequently take water breaks. But a good news on that regard would be the good form of his Indian players, especially Alen Deory, who are quite used to the Indian October.
The Highlanders are now back in India, and due to begin their ISL campaign on 6th October, away against Kerala Blasters. A jump from the chilly Durban straight to the hot and humid Kochi is something the manager will have to factor in as they go through the final preparations before taking the season head-on.
