Bhubaneswar: It’s crunch time for Bengaluru FC at the Kalinga Stadium, on Wednesday,
where nothing short of a win against an in-form FC Goa would do, if they are to keep their
hopes of progressing in the Super Cup, alive. The Blues go into an early kick off against Manolo
Marquez’s group leaders on the back of a 1-0 defeat to Odisha, but it was the performance on
the night that Gerard Zaragoza will draw confidence from.
The Blues, however, will be without winger Ryan Williams after he picked up a red card against
Odisha, and while the Australian’s absence will be felt, Zaragoza was confident in the ability of
the youngsters on the squad.
“Of course it affects us as we were already short on foreign players and with Ryan out it makes
it harder as the squad is not complete. But I’m so happy with our younger players who have
what it takes to be at this club. They just need more game time and experience to move to the
next level,” said the Bengaluru FC Head Coach.
Furthermore, Sunil Chhetri, Gurpreet Sandhu, and Suresh Wangjam, three of Bengaluru’s
experienced players, are all absent owing to national team responsibilities at the AFC Asian
Cup in Qatar, leaving the squad with more to do.
Despite playing an entire half with ten men against Odisha, Bengaluru FC were fluent in attack,
taking the game to the hosts. Spaniard Javi Hernandez came close on a few occasions, and he
will continue to be the key on Wednesday.
On the other hand, the arrival of Indian forward Mohammad Yasir, who joins the Gaurs on loan
from Hyderabad FC, will be a boost for Goa. The winger and Manolo Marquez will look to build
on their success together in Indian football with their new club. The duo played a crucial role in
the Nizams’ first-ever ISL championship victory in the 2021–2022 season.
Zaragoza admitted that his team had their task cut out.”They (Goa) know that it is a must-win
match for us which plays to their benefit. They have great players and a very good coach, but
we will have our game plan set. We also know we will get chances to win the game that keeps
us alive in the Super Cup,” added Zaragoza.
Meanwhile in the other fixture of the same group, defending champions Odisha FC will aim to
get the better of Inter Kashi to solidify their progression into the knockout stages of the
competition.
