Kerala Blasters eye winning start at Durand Cup against Indian Navy

The Yellow Army will begin their campaign at the tournament on September 11.

The action from the 130th Durand Cup heats up further as the VYBK Football Ground gets ready to play host to a scintillating Group C fixture between ISL outfit Kerala Blasters FC and group leaders Indian Navy Football Team scheduled for a 3:00 PM IST kick-off on September 11, 2021. The match will be streamed LIVE on addatimes app.

Indian Navy has had a good start to their Durand 2021 Campaign with a 2-1 win over Delhi FC in a hard-fought encounter in their opening Group C game.

The Sailormen made a comeback after giving away an early lead courtesy of a 21st-minute goal by Willis Plaza. Goals by forward Shreyas V.G. and a towering header from defender Dalraj Singh in the 86th minute made the difference for the Indian Navy team.

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With a more potent opponent in front of them in the next encounter in the form of Kerala Blasters, Indian Navy looks at an uphill task. Speaking before the match, Team Coach of Indian Navy Football Team, Abhilash Vasantha said, “It is a very important game for us as Kerala Blasters is a very strong outfit and are fielding a full-strength squad.”

Vasantha also commented on the two-day gap before their game against Kerala Blasters and said, “It's very difficult to play after a 2 days gap in such humid conditions. But my boys are ready for the big match. Hope some of my boys will join after injury. The match will be thrilling 90 mins and we will fight to get the 3 points.”

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Kerala Blasters FC on the other hand will be playing their first match of the tournament and by the looks of it, they are one of the strongest teams in the competition with a host of major Indian names like Albino Gomes, Prabhsukhan Gill, Sahal Abdul Samad, Jeakson Singh, Rahul KP, Harmanjot Khabra and Bhutan’s star forward Chencho Gyeltshen amongst others forming the core of the team.

Speaking about the encounter, Kerala Blasters FC, Coach, Ivan Vukomanovic said, “We don’t have any special plans for them. We are in our pre-season preparation period for the ISL. We are focused on ourselves.”

Top two teams from each group will qualify for the quarter-finals scheduled to kick-off from September 23, 2021.

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