Vincenzo Alberto Annese speaks about NEUFC's new foreign striker

The tactician also shared some important injury updates.

NorthEast United will take on FC Goa in their second home game of 2023 this weekend with an aim to get back to winning ways. Vincenzo Alberto Annese's side come into the game after losing two back-to-back games. FC Goa are no different as they also come into this game with a similar backdrop.

Back in December, the Gaurs emerged victorious in the reverse fixture and NorthEast United will be poised to settle scores. Ahead of the match, head coach Vincenzo Alberto Annese and left-back Hira Mondal addressed the media. 

Thoughts on FC Goa

Vincenzo began with sharing his thoughts on the Gaurs. He said that they are a good team with a lot of quality who have caused a lot of problems to the other teams.

He started, “It will be a very difficult game because they are a team with a lot of quality. Edu Bedia is one of the experienced players of the league and is the key player of their team. Noah Sadaoui makes a run behind the defender and has caused problem to all the teams."

“They have quality, but we have studied them and I hope tomorrow we can give a better performance than the last game,” he asserted.

Thoughts on Kule Mbombo

The Highlanders have roped in Congolese target-man Kule Mbombo for the remainder of the season. Sharing his thoughts on the new signing, the tactician said, “He is a quality player who is clinical in the box. I hope we will have a lot of chances in the box. He has the quality and now he is trying to understand our style. We have three new faces in the league and for sure they add a big belief in our style of football.”

Conceding late goals

NorthEast United have conceded a lot of late goals this season and FC Goa have scored a lot of late goals on the contrary. Speaking on the same, the Italian head coach said, “I hope we don’t concede late goals anymore. It’s just about concentration and focus. It was so painful in the last game. But we hope to play better football against Goa and be more compact in both defence and attack. We need to push forward and I believe that we have improved game by game,” he stated.

Team News

Sharing an update on his squad going into the FC Goa game, Vincenzo Alberto Annese said that Imran Khan and Joe Zoherliana are doubtful for the fixture.

“Imran Khan and Joe Zoherliana are a doubt for tomorrow while Jordan (Wilmar Jordan Gil) has comeback,” he said.

Hira Mondal’s comments

Thoughts on signing for NorthEast United and mood in the camp

The new signing was thankful to his coach and the club management for getting him onboard. 

“I’m thankful to the coach and the management for bringing me here and believing in me. I picked up from where I left last season."

He further went on to share the mood in the camp and said that everyone is doing their job, but results are just not coming their way.

“Everyone is working hard, but we are just not getting the results. We are trying to implement the coach’s plans on the pitch. In the last game, we conceded the second goal because of my mistake. Tomorrow we will play FC Goa and as our coach said we’ll try to be compact at the back. If we listen to what our coach says, we can win tomorrow’s game,” he mentioned.