ND Heroes on slippery turf

There were no practice matches for New Delhi Heroes on Wednesday at the Delhi Public School,RK Puram grounds on the eve of their first qualifier for the second division I-League against Amity United in Gurgaon.

There were no practice matches for New Delhi Heroes on Wednesday at the Delhi Public School,RK Puram grounds on the eve of their first qualifier for the second division I-League against Amity United in Gurgaon. Instead,coach Chima Okorie wrapped up quickly after a brief physical training session followed by a long theory class,avoiding the slippery practice turf.

But its not just the last-minute injuries hes guarding against. Heroes were troubled by frequent injuries to their key players during the DSA super league. And here again,question mark exists over the match-fitness of seven frontline players, Stanley,Gagandeep,Rajat Guha (GK),Santosh,Amjad Ali Khan,Prashant Jaggi and Bhuvan Joshi. Figos fresh pair of legs upfront,along with Marlanki and Romeo,was the only silver lining for skipper Stanley,who skipped practice. We just hope he (Figo) delivers. For others,its more in the mind. I think most of my players are about 20 per cent away from complete fitness. At this stage you are a bit scared and try to play safe. The best way to overcome it is to forget that you are injured.

But nothing comes that easy in football. Last year,we were fit but we lost badly. Im sure well do well this time around, said Stanely.

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About 40 kilometers from the Capital,in Manesar,scenes were contrasting. Fresh from three national-level titles Gwalior,Sambalpur and Kalinga Gold Cups where theyve conceded just a solitary goal,the only problem Amity United had was that of plenty. Rushing in mid-fielder Manish Maithani and striker ND Opara,on loan from Indian Nationals,might further strengthen their attack,but coach Rohit Parashar might just stick to the winning combination. They (Maithani and Opara) need some rest. In them,we now have able replacements in case our frontline strikers get injured. They will provide us with further options in the second half which will be extremely important. At the moment they are just enjoying the atmosphere here, Parashar said.

The confidence in Parashars voice also stems from his teams 100 per cent record against the rivals Amity have defeated Heroes 3-1 and 2-1 in the last two meetings,in NFL division II and a friendly,respectively. The only hitch in Parashars mind is the relative inexperience against that of nine former I-League players in the Heroes.

We dont have big names like them (the Heroes). The boys are mostly from Delhi,Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and of 23-25 years of age. But weve done well with this bunch and well continue to back them, Parashar added.

Squads
New Delhi Heroes: R Guha,Stanley,R Mehdi,Baljinder,P Jaggi,M Khattri,Nirmaldeep,Santosh,B Joshi,Jiten,Romeo,Gagandeep,Pawan,M Suting,Figo,Barister,Trilok,Debit,Aman,Manoj; Amity United: P Kumar,S Nayak,V Kera,N Chowdhry,S Negi,Monday,J Saini,J Parmar,Pratiman,Denny,T Chowdhury,M Maithani,ND Opara.

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Matchfacts
* AMITY UNITED: Mohammedan Sportings 0-2 upset at the hands of Indian Bank last year denied them a main-round entry at first attempt. Amity had earlier thrashed Indian Bank 3-1. Their squad includes as many as six debutants Vivek Kera,Nitin Chowdhary,Shailendra Negi,Tushar Chowdhary,Jaswant Parmar and Pratiman.

*NEW DELHI HEROES: They had a forgettable outing in their first attempt,losing four of the five matches. Only five members of entire squad participated in the last years editionStanley,Prashant Jaggi,Rashid Mehdi,Anuj Kumar and Rajat Guha.

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