Indian Football has shown signs of improvement and Indian Super League is a major reason behind this. ISL, in its fifth season, will be the longest and will run through for six months. The tournament will have two breaks in between two FIFA windows (in October and November) and one for India’s preparatory camp for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.
Athletico Kolkata and Kerala Blasters would love to leave their past season behind, with both failing to crack the top 4 last year. ATK had an extremely forgettable season, finishing at nine out of 10 teams and Blasters, managing to make some sort of revival after David James took on the responsibilities of coaching from Rene Muelensteen.
Blasters have done well to persist with him in this season. KB eventually finished at 6th in the previous season. Steve Coppell , fondly called as “Koppalashan” in Kerala in the season he coached Kerala, will be with ATK this season. He is one of the most consistent coaches in the tournament and ATK would benefit from his presence. As Kerala coach, Coppell’s team lost to ATK in the penalties in the 2016 final. Under him, debutants Jamshedpur FC missed out on a play-off spot by a whisker last season.
“I am eagerly waiting for the start of the tournament. We have had a fruitful preseason in Spain where we got our chance to test all our players and now it is time to prove our mettle on the stage that matters,” Coppell said. This will also be Blaster’s first season without Sachin Tendulkar as their brand ambassador.
The two teams have a healthy rivalry but the results are 6-1 in favour of ATK, including two in the 2014 and 2016 finals. Six of the seven foreign players of ATK have prior experience of playing in the ISL including former Bengaluru FC defender John Johnson. Of the 19 Indians in the squad, ATK have retained six from the fourth season — Debjit Majumdar, Prabir Das, Eugenson Lyngdoh, Jayesh Rane, Komal Thatal and Hitesh Sharma. Among the Indians, Indian star midfielder Eugeneson Lyngdoh who will be returning to action after his knee injury will grab a lot of eye balls.
Kerala has a strong defence with foreigner duo of Cyril Kali and Nemanja Lakic-Pesic along with national team’s Sandesh Jhingan and Anas Edathodika in the team and it will be an interesting battle with ATK’s star attacking line-up. Kerala have also signed the likes of Zakeer Mundampara, Halicharan Narzary and Seiminlen Doungel who will provide width and pace to the team while going forward this season.
Post Your Comments