Connect with us

Sports

ISL: Goa to face bottom-placed Delhi in must win tie (Preview)

Published

on

Margao, (Goa), Feb 20 (IANS) After failing to clinch victory in the last four fixtures in the Indian Super League (ISL), FC Goa find themselves in a must win situation when they take on Delhi Dynamos at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Wednesday.

The Goa outfit have two matches in hand over the teams in the top four and Kerala Blasters FC, who are fifth in the points table.

“We will be depending on ourselves. Rather than pressure, we should look at it with excitement because I think we can achieve something special this year and we are four wins away from that. The most important thing is to be loyal to ourselves and focus on recovering the confidence of the players,” said Goa head coach Sergio Lobera.

“We have already shown what a good team we are and we have to do the same in this final phase. For me every game is different and what has happened in the past, we cannot compare with now.

“If we have to think about that game, it didn’t reflect what happened on the pitch – they had a man sent off and then the scoreline became very extensive. Till the red card, the match was very balanced. Delhi deserve more points than they have,” he added, referring to Goa’s 5-1 win in the first fixture between the two sides.

However, bottom-placed Delhi can aim for the eighth place with a victory.

“We have always played well — nothing is different for my team — we play and we lose. But in the last two games we played well and won. That gives us confidence to win in the next four games. For us, I have told the players that every game is a final for us now because we want to finish by winning all the remaining games,” Delhi head coach Miguel Angel Portugal said.

“I know it’s an important match for FC Goa — but for us, I just want to win the game and make everyone happy,” he added.

Meanwhile, former FC Goa player Romeo Fernandes could feature in the match after being slowly blooded into the line-up.

–IANS
sam/bg

Continue Reading

Home

Sunil Gavaskar gives his opinion of GT allrounder Rahul Tewatia

Published

on

The left-handed batsman from Haryana is garnering praise from all quarters for the way he’s finishing games regularly in the most exciting IPL season.

Gavaskar reckons Tewatia’s whirlwind knock in Sharjah (in IPL 2020) where he smashed West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, gave him the confidence that he belongs to the big stage.

Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “That assault on Sheldon Cottrell in Sharjah gave him the belief to do the impossible and the confidence that he belongs here. We saw the impossible (he did with the bat) the other day as well. There’s no twitching or touching the pads (which shows a batter’s nervousness) when he bats in the death overs. He just waits for the ball to be delivered and plays his shots. He’s got all the shots in the book, but most importantly his temperament to stay cool in a crisis is brilliant.”

Gavaskar has also nicknamed the 28-year-old cricketer the ‘ice-man’ and lauded Tewatia’s ability to remain unruffled during the tense moments.

Continue Reading

Trending