Fed Cup: Sporting gear up for Aizawl challenge (Preview)

Sporting Clube de Goa will meet Aizawl FC in the second leg of their Federation Cup semi-final clash at the Fatorda Stadium here on Sunday.

After the first leg of the tie ended in a goalless stalemate, Sporting would be looking to bank on home advantage in their quest for a spot in the final.

"It is always difficult to play Aizawl FC as they are a compact side, who can upset anybody on their day," Sporting's head coach Mateus Costa said at the pre-match press conference on Saturday.

"The equations are simple, we have to win tomorrow to go through to the finals, and that is how we are looking at it. The boys are confident and there is a lot of positivity in the camp," he added

"Tomorrow's match is not going to be easy, but we believe in ourselves and will give our best to go to the final," Sporting skipper Loveday Enyinnaya said.

Assessing the performance of his side in the goalless first leg, Costa said, "Overall it was a fantastic defensive performance from our boys. I agree we lacked the creativity upfront but at the back we were solid and hence we kept a clean sheet away from home."

"If we look at Aizawl's performance against most teams at home, they have scored plenty of goals, in a way the clean sheet is a positive result for us," Costa added.

Meanwhile Aizawl FC head coach Jahar Das rued the lack of clinical finishing in front of the goal that resulted in the north-eastern club failing to take advantage in the first leg.

"We failed to take advantage at home it is as simple as that. We played good football in the second half and should have scored goals, but complacency cost us the match.

"At Fatorda, Sporting Goa has a slight advantage because of the natural turf. Our boys usually practice on artificial turf which makes it difficult to read the ball at times," Das informed.

Sporting Goa will lack the services of their box to box midfielder Rowlin Borges, which means in all probability Denson Devidas will partner Pratesh in the midfield.

The hosts will be hoping to sign off their season in Goa with a goal feast and give their fans one more match to look out for on May 21 in the Federation Cup final.

--IANS

ajb/bg