PRE-SEASON TEST: Mumbai takes heart from a perfect record in Dubai
MUMBAI CITY UNDERWENT an elaborate pre-season effort taking place both in Mumbai and Dubai, UAE as they toiled to ready themselves for the upcoming ISL campaign, under the watchful eyes of the newly-appointed marquee player-cum-manager Nicolas Anelka.
The team assembled towards the end of August and made their way to Dubai to begin a practice camp, which boasts of modernized training facilities while having a weather condition pretty close to that of India. This provided a good opportunity for the players to train and test themselves against some of the local teams, expected to be much better than the Indian lower division clubs that are mostly available for friendlies back home (few of the I-League clubs are operational since their key players are with ISL franchises right now).
The tour turned out to be a fruitful one as after some initial struggles, the Anelka-led side made itself home in the Gulf city, and earning a 100% win record in the friendly matches they played over there.
Their first encounter happened with local giants Al-Shabab FC. The UAE Arabian Gulf League has been around since 1958 and has won the national league 3 times. The match was a hard-fought one, but ultimately goals from Andre Moritz and Frederic Piquionne helped the Ranbir Kapoor co-owned side to a 2-1 victory.
We beat Al-Shabab FC 2-1 in our first pre-season game last night. Goal scorers: @andremoritz10 & @fredpiqoff pic.twitter.com/wcNR0Gg3D3
— Mumbai City FC (@MumbaiCityFC) August 31, 2015
The confidence boost that came with the first win saw the team propel towards better co-ordination and possession dominance. In their next frinedly against a hastily put together 'Dubai All Stars' team, Anelka's boys exploited their opponents' lack of cohesion and came out with a thumping 4-0 win.
Glimpses from last night's friendly against Dubai All Stars. #MumbaiMeriJaan Image Courtesy: Keyur Louis Photography pic.twitter.com/QH51JtpYJl
— Mumbai City FC (@MumbaiCityFC) September 8, 2015
Their last friendly in the Gulf, against another top division side Emirates Club, was bound to be another test for the ISL team. The match itself was a tense, gritty affair where both teams fought for every inch of space. But it was young midfielder Brandon Fernandes who broke the deadlock, helping Mumbai City come out with a 1-0 victory.
After this match the team returned to India, and continued their training at the Cooperage Ground in the city. Although the artificial turf at Cooperage is not the ideal pitch to practice on since all ISL venues have natural grass, the team made the best of it anyway as they prepared to overturn last year's disappointing campaign in the upcoming ISL.
They played one more friendly match, against local league club Air India, and blew them out of the water in a 7-0 goalfest.
It was Brandon Fernandes, again, who opened the scoring. The first half saw two goals from the Goan medio. Haitian winger Sony Norde — who a couple of days later won the FPAI Best Foreign Player Award for his contributions towards Mohun Bagan's I-League winning campaign — pitched in with a hat-trick. Late in the second half, player-manager Anelka and Subhash Singh, another Mohun Bagan player, slotted in one goal each to top it all off.
There's a reason why we call him our Tormentor-in-Chief! #MumbaiMeriJaan #OneCityOneHeartbeat pic.twitter.com/vPHjfmooe2
— Mumbai City FC (@MumbaiCityFC) September 23, 2015
So with a perfect record in the pre-season friendlies and a fruitful training camp, Mumbai City are now ready to plunge themselves into their ISL campaign. They will take heart from the fact that their forward line is doing well to find the net, many of the goals are coming from their Indian players, too. Although their star signing from the Players' Auction, Sunil Chhetri, has looked slightly out of touch, he has a flair for delivering on big occasions. But fans can take some extra comfort in the knowledge that their marquee player-manager Nicolas Anelka, too, has seen a a shot or two go in.
