Goa: After a narrow defeat at Imphal when the two sides last met in the I-League, young Indian Arrows will eye revenge when they take on an upbeat Neroca FC in the reverse fixture here on Tuesday.
Similar to their North-eastern brothers Aizwal FC last season, debutants Neroca have had a fairy-tale so far in the competition and are placed third with 15 points from eight matches. “It is all about action and commitment,” feels head coach Gift Raikhan that has brought them so far. But this is not the end of road and he urged his boys to maintain the same commitment.
Arrows however will not be the same opposition they had faced 10 nights ago. They (Arrows) come into the match after defeating Gokulam FC and will be raring for revenge especially after that close 2-1 defeat and hence Raikhan warned his boys, “The young lads have a lot of energy and are dynamic. They are not an easy team,” he said.
Luis Norton de Matos on the other was confident of his boys. “If you told me in the beginning that we will have ten points from ten games, I wouldn’t agree,” he said. The young Lions have 10 points from the same number of matches and “One point each game, in all competitions if you get one point then you never go down in the division.”
The team has recorded three wins and a draw, that includes big results against the likes of Mohun Bagan and Shillong Lajong and the Portugese urged his boys “we will try to get more points.” Fighting till the end is their mojo and the colts nearly overturned a defeat against Neroca with a 89th minute goal but was not sufficient for a win. Matos however said “I’m happy with the way this team plays. They play with passion.”
Neroca’s run on the other has nothing been short of Aizwal’s fairy-tale campaign last term and although many may count on Neroca to do the same as their brothers achieved, coach Raikhan reiterated, “There is a long way to go. It is only halfway. But anything can happen in football.”