FC Goa are all set to take on the defending champions Altletico de Kolkata in match no. 5 of the Indian Super League (ISL) 2015 and one can expect the encounter at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda to be a fiery one.
Both FC Goa and Atletico de Kolkata are coming into this fixture on Wednesday with a win in their respective opening games. It will be interesting to see whether Zico's men in blue or Habas's champions prevail in this high-voltage clash.
Atletico de Kolkata suffered a big blow ahead of their clash against FC Goa, as their marquee player from Portugal Helder Postiga is sidelined for at least four weeks due to an injury. Rino Anto and Arnab Mondal have also added their names on that injury list. This is bound to add extra pressure on the coach as well as the players.
"I might miss Postiga for a month but I have a lot of confidence in all my players. The player who replaced him, Valdo, got us a goal," Habas told reporters at the pre-match press conference. "The important thing is I was happy that we were able to start with win.
"Compared to last year, there is a big difference in the team this year. This year the players have adapted to my system better. Last year it was new to them. Now they know what I want of them."
FC Goa fans will be relieved to not have Postiga in their rivals' lineup, and will be thinking that their home side have the edge in this ISL 2015 match. But it will not be that easy against Habas's men in red and white stripes as the Spaniard has plenty of firepower in his bank.
On the other hand, Zico's men in blue will also be tough to beat at their own backyard. In their opening game of the ISL 2015, they played some brilliant football and their defence, led by Lucio, was surely one of the highlights of the match against Delhi Dynamos.
"We had a good win against Delhi Dynamos in the opening game and we must continue winning. Of course, we are motivated to win. This team has the ambition and desire to win this edition of ISL. This team has players who have played many finals. Last year there was a setback (against Atletico de Kolkata). This year, our target remains the same," Zico said at the press conference ahead of FC Goa's clash against Atletico de Kolkata.
Meanwhile, Atletico de Kolkata stunned Chennaiyin FC in their opening game. The victory came to them after a hard-fought battle. The conditions were tough, the fans were right behind the home team and in spite of that Borja Fernandez and co. emerged victorious. And now they have to deal with yet another tough fixture against FC Goa in their second match of the ISL 2015.
"Goa are very similar to last year. But that doesn't matter. In a game of 90 minutes, anything is possible," Habas added.
FC Goa squad: Goalkeepers: Andrade, Laxmikant Kattimani, Luis Barreto, Keenan Almeida.
Defenders: Nicolau Colaco, Lúcio, Grégory Arnolin, Raju Gaikwad, Narayan Das, Roy Debabrata.
Midfielders: Bikramjit Singh, Jonatan Lucca, Pronay Halder, Léo Moura, Jofre, Mandar Rao Desai, Léo Rocha, Denson Devadas, Romeo Fernandes.
Forwards: Victor Simões, Reinaldo, Darryl Duffy, Chinadorai Sabeeth, Joaquim Abranches, Thongkhosiem Haokip, Victorino Fernandes.
Atletico de Kolkata squad: Goalkeepers: Amrinder Singh, Kunzang Bhutia, Juan Calatayud.
Defenders: Arnab Mondal, Denzil Franco, Josemi, Mohan Raj Nallapan, Augustin Fernandes, Tiri, Lalchhawnkima, Rino Anto.
Midfielders: Borja Fernandez, Ofentse Nato, Jewel Raja, Syed Rahim Nabi, Clifford Miranda, Arata Izumi, Jaime Gavilan, Sameehg Doutie, Valmiro Lopes Rocha (Valdo), Javi Lara.
Forwards: Iain Edward Hume, Helder Postiga, Nadong Bhutia, Baljit Sahni, Sushil Kumar Singh.
Where to Watch live:
FC Goa vs Atletico de Kolkata is set to begin at 7 pm IST (2.30 pm BST, 9.30 am ET), with live TV coverage in India on a whole host of channels, including Star Sports 2, Star Sports HD2, Star Sports 3, Star Sports HD3, Star Gold, Star Utsav (both Hindi),Jalsha Movies (Bengali), Jaya Max (Tamil) and Asianet Movies (Malayalam) and Suvarna TV (Kannada). The fifth match of ISL 2015 can also be watched via live streaming online in India, and another 159 countries, on Hotstar and Starsports.com.
Viewers in the UK can watch ISL 2015 Match 5 between FC Goa and Atletico de Kolkata live on Star Gold, while Middle East and North Africa viewers can catch the action live on OSN, with the live streaming option on OSN Play.
Viewers in the US and Australia can watch FC Goa vs Atletico de Kolkata live on Fox Sports, while the online live stream option is on Foxsoccer2go and Foxtel. Audience in Canada can watch the Indian Super League 2015 game live on CBN and ATN.
Eurosport will show the Indian Super League match live in Europe and South East Asia, while the match can also be live streamed on Eurosport Player.
Viewers in Sub Saharan Africa can watch certain ISL matches live on Zuku and SuperSport.
