ONGC, Sporting look for revival

New Delhi, Dec 7 (IANS) Both ONGC and Sporting Clube de Goa will aim to resurrect themselves when they meet in the 10th round of the I-League at the Ambedkar Stadium here Saturday.

While Sporting Clube will be hoping that newly appointed head coach Oscar Bruzon can turn the tide in their favour in his first game in charge, the services of Japanese playmaker Yusa Katsumi and stopper Hasan Odeola – both returning from suspensions — should bolster the hosts’ chances as well.

“It is a good thing that Yusa and Hasan will be back in the fold once again. Their presence is very much required at the moment,” ONGC coach Subrata Bhattacharya said.

“I don’t know what went wrong in the last few matches. Maybe sense of complacency after beating Dempo. We also played with ten men in all the last three matches if you have noticed. But this is where the role of a coach comes into play. I take this challenge and now we are only concentrating on resurrecting the ship,” he added.

“This is an important match for us. We need to make a comeback. Past is past. Whatever we have done against Dempo or (Mohun) Bagan and Prayag (United) should be left behind. We must now work on the present situation.”

Bhattacharya also ruled out any advantage over Sporting Clube who are in a sort of transition mode after appointment of the Spaniard at the helm.

“That is quite natural. Every coach should be given time to settle down. But we are concentrating on lifting ourselves and that is important.”

After playing nine matches, Sporting Clube are in the 11th position with seven points while ONGC are bottom-placed bagging only five from nine outings.

IANS 2012-12-07 13:44:09