I-League Media
LUDHIANA: High-flying Minerva Punjab FC take on Bengaluru FC in the twelfth round of Hero I-League 2016-17 at the Guru Nanak Stadium in Ludhiana tomorrow (March 5, 2017).
Minerva FC and Bengaluru FC shared spoils in the first leg in Bengaluru after Sandesh Jinghan netted an own goal to gift Minerva the crucial away point.
Surinder Singh, Head coach of Minerva Punjab FC, attended the pre-match press conference along with Midfielder Souvik Das. on being asked about Minerva’s debut season in the I-league season so far, he added that his team struggled hard in the initial stage but came up strongly from the bottom of the table to the sixth position and stay unbeaten for the last six games.
“We have drawn against Bengaluru FC at their fortress and tomorrow’s game is very important for us and all three points are very crucial for us.”
Speaking about Minerva’s tough schedule ahead of playing three games in six days, Surinder Singh stated that he would not rest or save players but would hit the gas right away against Bengaluru FC to upset the reigning champions.
Souvik Das, the former Sporting Club De Goa midfielder, mentioned, “It (Churchill game) was an important game in Goa and we were happy to score goals one after another and this victory definitely boosted the morale of the players as well as the team.”
Albert Rocca represented the visitors along with Nishu Kumar, the fluent Punjabi speaking member of the Blues squad.
Albert Rocca confidently states, “Tomorrow is an important game for us and we are definitely going for the win”. He also added that the ground isn’t much suited for their style of play, but surely they will adapt to the conditions.
About Bengaluru FC adding strength to their squad in Serbian Marjan Jugovic, Rocca stated,” In our recent games, we have had most of the possession, but we failed to score and we have missed our chances. Jugovic is here to help the team and we will make our changes to the squad such that it earns us points”.
Finally about asked where he’d want to see his team at the end of the season, Rocca says that right now they are not in a good position in the table and they will focus on the AFC Cup and also look to push the team up the I-League table towards their objective of retaining the title.
The match is scheduled to kick off at 04:30 PM and it’ll be aired live on Ten 2.
