Pune FC takes on Royal Wahingdoh FC in a crucial I-League Round-13 encounter at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Shillong on Sunday.
Speaking at the pre-match Press Conference, Pune FC Coach Karim Bencherifa discussed the upcoming game and the current team among various things.
“To begin with, I would like to highlight the good work done by Royal Wahingdoh. A lot of people didn’t expect them to perform the way they have done and a lot of credit goes to Coach Santosh Kashyap. The last game against Wahingdoh is a thing of the past, and we have to move on. We had a very good first half. We even went close a couple of times in the second when Wahingdoh dominated, but we got the important win. However, tomorrow’s game is a new story altogether,” said Coach Bencherifa when asked about the game.
Talking about the team he said, “I’m extremely happy with our squad at Pune FC. You know that the foreigners are an important part in any team in the I-League and if you see the stats, out of 9 I-League games, we have played only 4 with all four foreigners, 3 with two and 1 with just one foreigner.”
“Add to that, the National Body’s rule where you have to play an U23 player in the team. But for us it’s not a rule, it is a standard. If you see Nikhil Kadam, he is the second highest assist provider in the team with three assists while another youngster Thongkhosiem Haokip is the top Indian goalscorer in the league with six strikes and even Amrinder Singh. What I am trying to say is despite the changes and not being able to play our best eleven frequently, we are where we are – in top-3 having played a game less. That’s why I want to give full credit to the squad because every player who came in did his job.”
Giving an update on the team for the game, Coach Bencherifa said, “We are missing Darko Nikac who twisted his ankle in the previous game, Ryuji Sueoka who travelled with the team is out because he is struggling with the back injury and Edgar Marcelino was hospitalised earlier today for a possible food poisoning. So the only real striker we have is Shoaib Syed who comes from the academy just this season. He has only come on as a substitute twice in the I-League before today’s game. But despite the situation, we will be going for all three points tomorrow because we know the importance of this game. Bengaluru FC and Mohun Bagan are in a great position ahead of us and we know that if we slip off there are many teams just below us who will capitalise and we might be fighting to be in the top-three.”
He further added, “The league is very competitive and we know where we are. We will be looking for three points tomorrow and I am banking on the young players in the squad like Shoaib, Lalrempuia Fanai to come up very strong. They have been very important to us in all the competitions earlier in the season and we hope to have a good game tomorrow.”
