Eduardo cheered by fans in his first practice session
Kolkata: Mohun Bagan’s new foreign recruit Eduardo Ferreira started training with his team mates. Eduardo, who was accompanied by his girlfriend Paloma was cheered by the fans who gathered at the ground to have a first look of him. The Brazilian was seen training with his compatriot Garcia and looked in cheerful mood. He was also seen cracking a joke or two with Katsumi Yuasa and Debjit Majumder.
“I see the Indian players here are quite good. I played against most of them in ISL. I know the captain (Katsumi) as I played two matches against him. He is a good player and has tremendous energy. I like this type of players who can run for 90 minutes. I also played against Jeje when I was in FC Pune City. I told him at practice that I will kick you if you score against me. (laughs),”said Eduardo after the practice.
The Brazilian scored a fairytale goal against Debjit Majumder in ISL 3 before being rushed to the hospital. He still remembers his goal he scored against Atletico de Kolkata.
“Yes I remember that incident. I was rushed out of the ground on a stretcher after I collided with him. I was seeing black but later when I was about to come back to the field of play all the photographs was clicking my photo,” said the defender with Equatoguinean passport.
Eduardo was caught by surprise to see the number of fans turning up for the practice session. “I do not see so many fans in training in Brazil as well. I love the passion of the supporters as they make the players happy. They are the twelfth member of our team,” said Eduardo
He has heard about Barreto and already is aware of the popularity the Brazilian enjoyed here.”I am told he is a legend here and did very well for this club here. I want to be the same and give my best for the team.”
Edurado, who was accompanied by his girlfriend said, “She travels with me everywhere I go. We like each other and she always brings luck for me.”
With just a couple of days to go before the I League kick starts, already there is pressure building on the Mohun Bagan footballers and coach. The Mariners is tipped as the favorites to lift the I League again.Coach Sanjay Sen have warned his players about getting complacent. According to the gaffer, “There will be expectation from all spheres. As a coach my job will be to see that my players do not get complacent. We all want to win back the I League. We have to work harder to achieve it. The ride will not be a smooth one, as there will be bad times but we have to overcome it.
Mohun Bagan has signed six under 22 players and all of them have been impressive at the practice sessions. The gaffer said, “It will be an extremely challenging task to single out one under 22 players. All of them are capable of getting into the first eleven.”
I have taken it as challenge to coach a big team like Mohun Bagan. Like I have told all of you, if I fail to bring success, I will walk away from the same gate I entered the club. I have that mental strength to accept the failures.
Mohun Bagan will play the first three matches as home. The gaffer was asked whether that will act as an advantage to his side, he said, “We will have to garner the maximum points from our home matches. Our target will be to win all the three matches at home before we leave to play the two away matches.”