Antonio Habas: NorthEast United FC will be a tenacious opponent

Prior to his team’s home match against NorthEast United FC, Mohun Bagan SG head coach Antonio Habas presented his thoughts.

When Mohun Bagan Super Giants and NorthEast United FC square off in their upcoming Indian Super League (ISL) match on Saturday at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata, head coach Antonio Habas anticipates a hard contest.

The Mariners have won seven of the nine potential points and are undefeated in their past three games. Currently holding fourth place with 26 points from 13 games is Habas’ team. Notably, Mohun Bagan SG has defeated the Highlanders in six of their previous nine meetings.

In order to move ahead in the standings, Mohun Bagan SG will be focused on the next game and hoping to pick up three crucial points. Habas expressed his worry about their hectic schedule as well, but he is confident they will keep up their strong performance.

He stated at the pre-game press conference, “We have the same target, which is to get the three points.”
Because the opposition plays to win, sometimes it’s possible and other times it’s not. We are playing after three days, so we need to recover from the prior game. We have to play again tomorrow (Saturday), after traveling to Goa for the match in muggy circumstances a few days ago,” he continued.

The 66-year-old had pleasant things to say about Juan Pedro Benali, the head coach of NorthEast United FC. Habas expects the Highlanders game to be extremely difficult.

Like NorthEast United FC, I do. Their coach is competent. He claimed that his team’s formations have been altered, and they are now able to play with various systems with ease.
They have a strong record in the last game and make it difficult for opponents to counterattack. It will be challenging to play against them,” he said.

Under the Spanish head coach, 20-year-old Dippendu Biswas of Mohun Bagan SG is starting to see consistent playing time in the ISL after making an impression in previous games for the team. “In training, I saw that his (Dippendu Biswas) condition was really good,” Habas said, expressing his admiration for the child’s talent and potential. I discussed playing younger players with my staff from the very beginning. We are quite content with him.

He can play with the senior team and is a gifted young player with a lengthy future ahead of him. And it’s crucial for his development that he has an experienced player like Hector (Yuste) guiding him now that he has him,” he said.

Hector Yuste: We are ready tackle every challenge

In the news conference held in advance of their upcoming home match against NorthEast United FC, Spanish defender Hector Yuste accompanied his head coach. Although Yuste acknowledged that his team doesn’t have much time to prepare for the match, he is optimistic about his team’s ability to maintain the momentum.

To be honest, we don’t have enough time to get ready for the game. We returned on Thursday, so today is our training day. We’ll find out what the coach desires,” he remarked.

There are a lot of talented offensive players in this league. Thus, we must always plan ahead and consider all of our possibilities. Although we are confident because we just finished a strong game, we are aware that they are in a terrific spot right now. The team is now, in my opinion, focused, and we are prepared to handle any issues they may raise,” he said.