The fourth season of Indian Super League (ISL) will happen in a meanwhile. One hour long opening ceremony is scheduled at Kochi Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium.
Kerala’s own favorites Kerala Blasters will take on defending champions Amar Tomar Kolkata (ATK) in the opener match. The opening match in Kochi would be played in before the yellow sea. Blaster is all set to fight back ATK, to whom they lost the previous season cup.
Blasters have gone in for a new head coach, their fourth coach in ISL season. Rene Meulensteen will be the master brain in combining attack and defense of Sachin Tendulkar co-owned Kerala Blasters.
Meulensteen, who assisted Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, has enormous experience and he has been instrumental in bringing former United star Dimitar Berbatov to the Blasters camp. The Bulgarian striker is expected to be a handful for the defenders and his pin-point passes will prove beneficial for striker Iain Hume and C K Vineeth.
From this edition of ISL, the number of foreigners in the playing eleven has been reduced from six to five. Blasters are blessed with talented domestic players such Sandesh Jhingan, Rino Anto and Aizwal FC’s emerging star Lalruatthara in the backline. The injury to English defender Wes Brown is a cause for concern for the team management.
Kerala Blasters Squad
Goalkeepers: Paul Rachubka, Sandip Nandy, Subhasish Roy Chowdhury.
Defenders: Nemanja Laki?-Peši?, Wes Brown, Pritam Kumar Singh, Sandesh Jhingan, Lalruatthara, Lalthakima, Rino Anto, Samuel Shadap.
Midfielders: Milan Singh, Arata Izumi, Loken Meitei, Siam Hanghal, Ajith Sivan, Courage Pekuson, Jackichand Singh.
Forwards: Karan Sawhney, Prasanth Karuthadathkuni, Iain Hume, C.K. Vineeth, Mark Sifneos, Dimitar Berbatov
ATK Squad
Goalkeepers:Debjit Majumder, Kunzang Bhutia, Jussi Jaaskelainen.
Defenders: Nallappan Mohanraj, Tom Thorpe, Jordi, Keegan Pereira, Anwar Ali, Augustin Fernandes, Prabir Das, Ashutosh Mehta.
Midfielders: Conor Thomas, Carl Baker, Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Darren Caldeira, Shankar Sampingiraj, Rupert Nongrum, Hitesh Sharma, Ronald Singh, Bipin Singh.
Forwards: Njazi Kuqi, Zequinha, Jayesh Rane, Robbie Keane, Robin Singh
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