PRE MATCH QUIPS - Zambrotta: Zlatan coming to India statement was a joke; Vingada: It’s going to be like a final

FOR NORTHEAST IT IS LIKE KNOCKOUT stage has already begun. They are in a must win situation where they must win the next two games to qualify to be in the playoffs. Vingada, talking about the his side's preparation ahead of the game yesterday, said,

"We are considering tomorrow’s match as the most important one. A lot also depends on the result today (ATK vs Kerala Blasters FC). They are also fighting for the spot that we want, so we have today’s match to look forward to, besides keeping in mind that tomorrow’s game is going to be most important for us,” Vingada told reporters ahead of the match."

Vingada continued:

"It’s going to be like a final. So far we have kept ourselves alive and we need to continue keeping ourselves alive. I hope when we play in Kochi, we are still in it. Let’s see what happens today and tomorrow but we can’t say anything. We can, however, say it’s going to be difficult because there are two games and one target for both teams, so we will just have to wait."

Zambrotta, speaking ahead of the game, answered a question if they would want to take victory against NEUFC replied,

"We, of course, want to win and take the three points and we have this mentality that we want to do our best, and we are playing to win tomorrow. We would also want to win against Mumbai, so with this mentality we want to play our games.Tomorrow we know NorthEast are in a must-win situation as regards their semis chances, and we know that tomorrow will be an intense game and we are here to play good football and take maximum points.I think NorthEast is a very good team and it is one of the best teams according to me because they have good quality and play very well.”

The Highlander's Coach, on his team's mini-resurrection said,

“Our team has come back in form since the last three games but even then I wasn’t happy when we played against Kolkata because we conceded the goal in the last minute. We won against Pune even though it wasn’t a great game, and against Chennai we made some interesting moves. We showed our heart and that how badly we wanted to stay and fight for our position."

He continued,

"…We need a minimum of 18 points to qualify but we want more than that because Kolkata and Kerala are at 18 points and we play Kerala in Kochi. We will just have to wait for today and tomorrow’s games to see what happens, we still do have a chance."

Delhi have scored 26 and conceded 15 goals in the league so far. If their defence was a problem, Zambrotta said,

"No, the defence is not a problem and ours is a team which likes to attack and at times we do end up giving an opportunity to the opponents but we are working on this to get better" 

NorthEast United will be without the services of Gustavo and Subrata Paul. Talking about the squad that might start in the next game said,

"Subrata and Gustavo won’t be able to make it, so we’ll have to choose a good side and we will, because our players are highly qualified. They’ll make a good game and score a lot of goals and the things that they have done of late… it is not a surprise for me"

Zambrotta clarifying his statement earlier in the season that he will try to get Zlatan in the ISL saying he was not to be taken seriously. He went on to say,

“Of course, it was a joke. I think it is not possible but you can never say never and maybe in the future it might be possible but I want to clarify that I had said it as a joke”

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