ISL 2020-21 Preview: Chennaiyin FC takes on Kerala Blasters, will aim to end campaign on winning note
ISL 2020-21 Preview: Winless in eight games, Chennaiyin FC will look to close out its campaign with a victory when it takes on Kerala Blasters on Sunday.
Published : Feb 20, 2021 19:47 IST
Chennaiyin FC will want to sign off its Indian Super League (ISL 2020-21) campaign on a winning note when it takes on Kerala Blasters at the GMC Stadium in Bambolim on Sunday. In a contest between two Southern sides that are out of the playoffs, pride will be at stake, if nothing else.
Chennaiyin is placed eighth in the table with 19 points, three more than Blasters, which is 10th but has played a game less. It has indeed been a disappointing season for both.
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It has been so disappointing for Blasters that it sacked its coach a few days ago. Kibu Vicuna parted ways with the team after its crushing 4-0 defeat to Hyderabad earlier in the week.
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Ishfaq Ahmed has taken over as the interim coach. “It’s a difficult situation that we are in now and there is not much time to change many things. But there are things we would like to improve,” he said.
He added it was important that the players remained motivated. “For me, it's everything to play for, pride and self-respect,” he said. “I think they are up for these two matches.”
Chennaiyin's coach Csaba Laszlo said he was still proud of his boys. “They showed character irrespective of the teams, but we lost two points against FC Goa and NorthEast United," he said. "We want to show our fans, our club owners and everybody else that we want to win the game. We won the first game against Jamshedpur FC and we would like to win against Kerala in our last game.”
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He said there was a lot of harmony in the team. “I have been on many teams and this is my third continent but here we had so much harmony,” he said. “We had bad moments and bad games and the players who were angry came up and encouraged others.”