Once again the football will roll at Kannur and this time it will be the I-League that will be welcomed by the football crazy fans of the northern district of Kerala. Musli Power X-tra Viva Kerala will take on Salgaocar SC at the Jawahar Stadium on the 3rd of December which will mark the start of the new league season for both the teams involved.
Changes:
Viva Kerala will no longer be playing at EMS Corporation Stadium, Kozhikode in this season’s I-League. They have shifted their home ground from Kozhikode to the Jawahar Stadium, Kannur.
There have been changes occurring on and off the field at the Viva Kerala. The team has been taken over by the Kunnath Pharmaceuticals, who have been earlier sponsoring the Churchill Brothers. AFC A licensee PK Kunhikrishnan has replaced AM Sreedharan as the head coach ending Sreedharan’s long association with the Kerala club as their head coach.
Many of the key players who helped the team to avoid relegation have left them for greener pastures. Such names include that of last season’s captain MP Sakeer (Churchill Brothers), playmaker Sirajudheen C and defender Noushad K (Chirag United). Defense was further weakened after left back Surjith VV joined the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) team.
Viva, though were boosted by the addition of experienced midfielder Kalia Kulothungan (Mohun Bagan) and Nigerian forward Felix Chimaokwu (Churchill Brothers) lately. They also have one of the best strikers of Kerala in OK Javed who signed on from Chandni FC. They also have managed to retain the foreign defensive duo of Bello Razaq and Charles Dzisah who were instrumental in their last campaign.
Meanwhile, the Salgaocar side will be missing the services of their top scorer Eneke Ikenwa who is no longer with the team. Youngsters Chitrasen Chandam Singh and Malswamfela have joined the AIFF XI team.
Goal Keepers Karanjit Singh (JCT) and Arnab Das Sharma (Air India) have joined the Goans. They have added N Kali Alaudeen and Thoi Singh from the now non-existent Mahindra United FC. But the biggest signing of the team will be Yusif Yakubu (East Bengal) who returns to his former club. Another worry for Viva Kerala will be the Japanese player Ryuji Seuoka who impressed at Mohun Bagan last season.
Expectations high at both ends:
Salgaocar coach Karim Bencharifa have already made it public that his team wants to compete for any of the first three places in the I-League 2010-11. “It would be great if we could win the I-League this season”, he was quoted as saying.
At the Viva Kerala corner, the team is hoping to attract large crowds to the Municipal Corporation Stadium starting with a fine display on Saturday. “We hope to do well in the inauguration match at Kannur and pull more crowd to the stands. We are going for three points. It will be a real boost to the team”, Viva’s assistant coach Bino George said.
Injury Worries:
Salgaocar will be facing problems at the back line as only two of their centre backs are fit for this clash. Khelemba Singh and Luciano Sabroza are the only central defenders with the team at Kannur. Bevan D’Mello, Kali Alaudeen, Subhash Singh and several other players are to miss the opening game of the season.
The home team though are blessed to have all players available for the opening match. New comers Felix and Kulothungan will be starting in as forward and midfielder respectively. CS Sabeeth or OK Javed is expected to partner Felix.
Adwaidh Rajan writes for FootballKerala.com
From the archive. First published on footballkerala.com on Thursday 2 December 2010, restored from the site's 2012 database. Text as originally published.
Comments · 1
Go beat them at Kannur!!!