Shillong Oct 31: After kick starting the Hero I-League campaign on a winning note against Aizawl FC on Sunday, Shillong Lajong FC will now host Quess East Bengal FC in another pulsating Hero I-League match on 1st November at the JN Stadium Shillong at 2PM. The tickets for the match will be available at The Mobile Centre, Police Bazaar and SSA Counter in Polo Ground.
The Lajong Youngsters delivered an exceptional performance in their opening game and played their heart out to win the opening match. Mahesh Singh scored a brace ensuring the three points.
Meanwhile, East Bengal FC is coming into this match after a 2-0 win over Neroca FC. Mexican striker, Enrique Esqueda delivered on his debut thereby scoring the two goals against a very strong Neroca side.
East Bengal has roped in Spanish coach, Alejandro Menendez Garcia for the I-League 2018/19 season along with Costa Rican defender Johnny Acosta and the team had a good pre-season in Malaysia where they played a few games.
The last time Shillong Lajong and East Bengal faced each other was on 5th March 2018 and match ended in a 2-2 draw in Shillong.
Talking about the match our head coach Alison Kharsyntiew said, “The game against East Bengal is always a tough fixture, especially this season as they have some experienced players in every department. We must put in a lot of efforts and lot of quality to win it.”
“The game against Aizawl gave the boys a lot of confidence, but Thursday’s game will be a different match as it will be a tough game mentally and we have to work hard as a team to beat them”, he further added.
East Bengal’s defender Johnny Acosta featured for the Costa Rican National team in the FIFA World Cup, Russia 2018. Talking about the defensive stability he brings, coach Alison said, “Acosta is a very good player, but it’s all about the team. We too have a very good set of players.Yes, we do have less experienced players. As long as we work hard, play together as a team and follow our philosophy I think we have enough quality to beat them.”
Lajong’s experienced defender Aiban Dohling put in a stellar performance in the last game against Aizawl to ensure the hosts’ the three points. While talking about The Reds’ last match he said,“It’s all about the team’s performance.
We had a great game, we followed the coach’s instructions and got the result. The young boys did really well in the last game and I’m really happy for them along with being happy with my performance. For Thursday’s game, we will work together as a team and I hope we will get the three points.”
“Like every season, East Bengal has a good team with a bunch of new and experienced players. But whether some players are playing or not, we are ready for the challenge tomorrow”, he then added.
Aiban, on the other hand, appreciated the Lajong Faithfuls for turning out in huge numbers in the last match and asked for their cheers again. “First of all, I would like to thank the fans for turning up in huge numbers in the last game. I want to request all the fans to come and cheer for us on Thursday as it is a big game. The boys and the coaching staff are confident and ready for the game. So, I request the fans to come out and cheer for us like the last game to keep us going in the field”, he said.
The visitors’ head coach Alejandro considers Thursday’s match to be a tough fixture going into the long season ahead. He said, “The game against Neroca gave us good confidence. We really respect Lajong for opting to play without foreigners and they performed very well in the last game. We know that it will be a difficult match. We have to give our maximum to win the game.”
East Bengal in their last four visits to Shillong has only managed to win once. When asked about the impact of previous results on tomorrow’s game, Alejandro said,“This year our team is totally different than previous years. We must try to win. After 90 minutes we will see whether we can or cannot win, but we have the confidence to win this difficult game against a difficult team.”
