Viva beats Akbar Travels by 3-1

In its first exhibiton match, Viva Kerala prevailed over Mumbai's Akbar Travels by 3-1. The match was played in Kalamassery.
There was a special surprise on Viva's side: Nigerian striker Abiola Omotayo was fielded as Shibin Lal's partner upfront. This means that the signings of Reuben Senyo, Charles Dzisah and even Bello Rasaq (who have not made it to the camp so far) are all but sure. We will investigate this matter and keep you posted. One thing is for sure, however: A club which calls itself "professional" cannot operate with such amateur-like behavior. This is an embarrassementfor the club. Abiola , who has played for Syria's Hutteen FC last season, landed in Kochi yesterday. Even though he was not impressive today, he will be kept in the camp as a trialist for a few more days.

On the bright side, Viva Kerala totally dominated today's match. Shibin Lal and Siraj scored in the first half to give Viva a 2-0 lead. Even though Akbar Travels had two foreign players and some experienced Indian players, they never matched Viva Kerala. The second half was evenly fought and while Akbar Travels scored one goal, new recruit Fredy managed to find the net for Viva.

Viva: Meloly - Surjith, Noushad, Amarwant, Thapa - Sajesh (Birua), Sisupalan (Rahul), Sakeer, Siraj - Shibinlal (Fredy), Abiola.

Coach Sreedharan: Overall, I am satisfied with the team's performance.

Patrick Sisupalan: We won our first match so it is a good start. There are some encouraging signs and we look capable of playing good football. There is still a lot of work to be done and far too many mistakes were made. I am pleased to have played my first game but dissapointed with my performance as I made some uneccessary errors.

Source: Vivakerala.net

From the archive. First published on footballkerala.com on Wednesday 19 August 2009, restored from the site's 2012 database. Text as originally published.