Hopeful of Atletico turnaround in ISL, says Ganguly

Former India cricket captain and Atletico de Kolkata (ATK) co-owner Sourav Ganguly on Monday said he is still hopeful that his side will make a comeback of sorts to beat Chennaiyin FC and get into the final of the Indian Super League (ISL) football tournament on December 20.

In the first leg of the semi-final, ATK lost 0-3 against the Marco Materazzi coached side on Saturday. And they now need to make sure they win by a bigger margin here on Wednesday in the second leg.

"Yes, I am hopeful. Let's see if we can get a 3-0 result here. We have beaten Chennaiyin previously and I don't see why we cannot do it again," Ganguly said at an event where Apollo Gleneagles kick-started their partnership with the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB).

"It is not that good teams like Brazil, Germany and Netherlands win the World Cup every time. But we will give it a try, it will not be easy."

Apollo will be working with the CAB for the next year and will ensure the players get a range of medical facilities. There will be on sight ambulance support for major national and international matches at the Eden Gardens.

The group will also provide basic medicines and first aid kits to all 18 CAB affiliated clubs on a regular basis.

"The Apollo doctors will train the people at the tent on how to use the facilities that will be given to them. They will provide us with Injections, ointments, ice-packs and many other things. Ambulances will be going around and if anything happens then they can rush the players to hospitals. CAB will also have ambulance in the rural areas where there are a lot of tournaments happening these days," Ganguly said.