The former Canada international was upbeat on his team's chances ahead of the competition's curtain raiser...
The second edition of the Indian Super League (ISL) will kick-off on Saturday when defending champions Atletico de Kolkata face Chennaiyin FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
Iain Hume, who was one of the best attacking players of the last edition of the competition, had played an instrumental part in Kerala Blasters' season as he lead them to a runners-up finish. The former Leicester City forward has switched allegiance this summer, signing for Kolkata in what was certainly the biggest intra-ISL transfers this summer.
The forward was quick to point out that just like last year, he hasn't set any personal target per say but certainly wants to win the trophy this time around.
"I had no personal ambition last season and I have none this time as well. I just want to enjoy playing and in the win the league trophy eventually. There's nothing easy in football. Atletico were champions last year. It's a fresh start now," he told Goal.
However, a sublime goalkeeping performance from Edel Bete in last year's final had kept the dominating Blasters at bay, and for Hume the wound is not healed yet. Bete has also jumped ships and is now a Chennayin FC custodian. Hume mentioned that he will like to score a few past him to avenge for Blasters defeat last year.
"You had to ask about that final! We couldn't believe we didn't win it after those two shots from Michael Chopra and one from me as well. Edel was on a different level. The thing is I did nothing wrong that night. I had a great game. He just had a better one," explained Hume.
"I would like to score half a dozen past him (Edel)," he joked.
The striker is also looking forward to forming a strong partnership with marquee player Helder Postiga.
"Things are great and he's a top striker so there's lot to learn from him as well," he said about the Portugese striker. "As I said, there's nothing easy in football. There are many examples of top players not clicking while playing together. All it will take is one moment and (snaps finger) and it will all come together," mentioned the 31-year-old.
The star player also stressed that their pre-season in Madrid was perfect and he would cherish the trophy parade at Vicente Calderon for life ahead of Atletico Madrid's tie against Barcelona.
"The pre-season went great. The Calderon experience for the Atletico Madrid - Barcelona game was something I'll never forget. I've only been in Kolkata for like five days but the reception has been tremendous," he signed off.
Wanted to play ISL opener, says Sunil Chhetri
While ruing the team had less preparations as always ahead of an international, India striker Sunil Chhetri wished he could also have played Mumbai City FC’s opening Indian Super League game of the second season against FC Pune City on Monday.
Chhetri, who missed the inaugural season will have to wait for his ISL debut. He is part of the 22-member senior national squad for the back-to-back AFC 2018 World Cup qualifying matches against Turkme-nistan and Oman.
“Ideally, I would’ve wanted more preparation. I would want to play the ISL game also. I wanted a calendar where I could have played the game with FC Pune City, had a break and go be with the national team for a week maybe. That’s how it happens around the world. We’ll try to be as good a team as we can be in those two-to-three days and give it everything,” said Chhetri.
India are yet to open their account in the losing 1-2 to Oman, 1-2 to Guam and 0-3 to Iran in the qualifiers. Chhetri admitted they were disappointing against Guam but took heart from good showing against Iran and Oman. “We played well against Oman and Iran. I know it doesn’t sound right when we lost the games 2-1 and 3-0 but we did well. We were hugely disappointed with the way we played against Guam. We have no one but ourselves to blame,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mumbai player-cum-manager Nicol-as Anelka said he was satisfied with their pre-season preparations and felt that the big test would being with their opener itself, against FC Pune City on Monday.
“We are in good shape and have a strong and quality squad. We had a good pre-season in Dubai which was much needed. But the big test will start from next week. In football you never know what is in store,” he said.
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India drops 12 places to be at 167th in FIFA rankings
New Delhi: Less than a week before their 2018 World Cup qualifiers match against Turkmenistan on October 8, the Indian national football team dropped 12 places to be at 167th in the latest FIFA rankings issued on Thursday.
Stephen Constantine's side, which take on Turkmenistan on October 8 and Oman on October 13, both away matches, are now at 30th spot in the continent, below the likes of Afghanistan, Myanmar and Guam.
Even small South Pacific nation of Cook Islands, which has a population of less than 20,000, are placed one place above India.
Today's ranking is just four places above the historical low of 171st which India achieved in December last year.
The slump in rankings came as no surprise after the team lost 0-3 to Iran in the World Cup qualifiers last month, extending the team's winless run to five matches.
Among South Asian countries, Bhutan lost nine places to be at 173th spot while Pakistan are at 177th, Bangladesh 182nd and Nepal 190th.
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Matchday 1
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Indian Super League: Chennaiyin FC - Atletico Kolkata
Preview: Marina Arena set to witness a thriller
The two set of teams are crippled with injuries but fans will nonetheless be entertained with the talent on show...
The second edition of the Indian Super League (ISL) is upon us. The defending champions, Atletico de Kolkata travel to Chennaiyin FC’s den at the Marina Arena in what promises to be blockbuster clash on Saturday.
The two teams have several injury concerns to contend with though. Antonio Habas’ side are without centre-back Josemi who played an important role for the Kolkatan outfit in their triumph last season. Also new recruit Jewel Raja hasn’t travelled to Chennai after he injured himself in a training session earlier this week. Defender Lalchhawnkima is down with viral infection and is unavailable for selection.
Nallappan Mohanraj, José Luis Espinosa Arroyo (Tiri) and Juan Calatayud have all travelled with the squad, despite it being reported earlier that they had been nursing injuries.
On the other hand, Marco Materazzi has as much to worry about. Striker Fikru Teferra who made the switch to the southern franchise from Atletico de Kolkata has just about recovered in time and took part in the practice session on Thursday evening.
Goalkeeper Karanjit Singh, on whom Chennaiyin FC splurged 60 lakhs INR in the ISL auction, was injured last week but is expected to be fit for the opening clash. Bernard Mendy only arrived in Chennai on Thursday and looks unlikely to start.
Left-back Dhanachandra Singh and midfielder Dhanpal Ganesh are recovering from their injuries and have been ruled out of the tie, with the latter potentially expected to be fit only by March next year.
Atletico have overhauled their squad from last season and chose not to retain several of their stars. However, they have made some smart acquisitions in striker Iain Hume who starred for Kerala Blasters last season.
They shall rely heavily on the midfield duo of Borja Fernandez and Javi Lara who were team-mates at Eibar last term.
However, it must be noted that their Indian contingent isn’t very strong given the fact that most were amongst the poor performers for their respective teams in the I-League.
They shall pin their hopes on Arnab Mondal to regain his best form and that Clifford Miranda and Syed Rahim Nabi turn the clock back and once again put in consistent displays after a woeful first season in ISL.
The Red and Whites have only two recognized number nines in their team – Helder Postiga and Sushil Singh. Their goal scoring record at club level isn’t impressive, something which Chennaiyin FC will certainly take note of.
The Blues of Chennai have retained the core of their squad. On paper, they have one of the strongest teams going into the second season. Materazzi will certainly be pleased that they have had a decent pre-season camp in Italy, as opposed to the last minute preparations last season.
The USP of Chennaiyin will certainly be the partnership between Elano Blumer and John Mendosa who carved open the opposition defence at will. Their quick counter attacking style won hearts of fans across the country.
With Italians known to be miserly in leaking in goals, they made some smart signings at the back such as former Fiorentina centre-back Alessandro Potenza and Brazilian Mailson Alves.
They have a strong Indian contingent too comprising the likes of Harmanjot Khabra whose versatility certainly hands Materazzi more options. Godwin Franco, Mehrajuddin Wadoo, Justin Stephen and Nidhin Lal are amongst the new additions.
The Machans from Marina will hope that Balwant Singh and Jeje Lalpekhlua replicate their form from last year with the latter finishing as the highest goal scorer amongst Indians.
Atletico de Kolkata and Chennaiyin FC started their season with a win in the inaugural edition of the competition. Which team shall pick three points this weekend?
Kick-off is at 7 PM IST from the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, which will be preceded by the opening ceremony.
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