MARGAO: For Clifford Chukuwama, all his eight years of command in top flight football will be kept on the edge of the sword as the shrewd Nigerian coach prepares his wards for an acid test against the defending Pro-League and I-League champions Dempo Sports Club in their first match of the Goa Pro-League at Duler stadium, Mapusa on August 31.
Sesa FA is facing a situation close to being termed ‘crisis’ with two of their top marksmen the prolific Marcus Mascarenhas (Salgaocar) and the fruitful Israel Gurung (Churchill Bros) leaving the Sirsaim based club for greener pastures and the coach admitted about the task being difficult but not entirely improbable.
"We’re in a tight position at the moment in the striking department and we’ve a lot to do in that direction. It is a task cut out for me. Everything is normal except the striking spots. We have to click quickly and get the results. It can be a struggle to fill the void of the two but there’s plenty of young blood here and we’re not entirely stuck up. It’ll not be easy but at this level you don’t expect a painless job," explained Clifford who has freshly returned back from Rio de Janeiro and armed with a Professional Coaching License, which can come in handy at this trying times.
At least at the start, Sesa won’t have any hardships in other places. Having players of maturity, the defence as well as the midfield do have similar shape and strength. "I had players in the rearguard and in the middle. It’s an assurance that they’ll do a good job over there, so I had no worries but again we had that hitch upfront. We had limits so we cannot go in the market and buy hot things, what we have does have enough potential. This team can do something different and we are looking to do that. It’ll be a simple concept but will be very attractive," disclosed Chukuwama who has planned strategies around his reliable soldiers like Nicolau Colaco, Ivo Fernandes, Pratesh Shirodkar, Inacio Colaco, Sidroy Afonso, Leszly Fernandes and Bruno Colaco.
Having also made some smart and wise enrollments Sesa FA can scatter nails in the path of the potential favourites and the big teams but their inadequacy could be the strike force so the onus lies on the shoulders of Leszly Fernandes and former Sporting Clube de Goa striker Rakshak Naik. "The void after the exit of Marcus will be definitely hard to fill and we’ve to be honest in that part. We have a few new players coming in that position and we have to be patient about them. We’ve to believe in Leszly and Rakshak and I’ve observed a lot of improvement in Leszly. He has matured, grown up and I have faith they will do the job for us," asserted Brahmanand Shankwalkar, the Technical Director of Sesa FA.
Sesa’s first practice match was a real delight and surely must have warmed the mind and heart of coach Clifford Chukuwama, Anthony D’Sousa, the assistant coach and manager Cyril Rodrigues as the youngsters made the military men run rugged with both Leszly and Rakshak finding the nylons.
The preparation and the groundwork of Sesa FA has been on the right track but the true test begins now.
SESA FA SQUAD:
Retained: Bruno Colaco, Shaheen Roy, Jaison D’Mello, Nicolau Colaco, Ivo Fernandes, Pratesh Shirodkar, Gagandeep Singh, Augustine Fernandes, Inacio Colaco, Sidroy Afonso, Leszly Fernandes.
New Recruits: Neves Fernandes, Gaurish Naik, Amol Salgaonkar, Charles Miranda, Valentino Rodrigues, Don Bosco (Karnataka), Richard Colaco (PY Nuvem), Jayganesh Goltekar, Doll Lepcha (Sikkim), Shivamani, Marcus Fernandes, Vivek Khaira, Edwin Lucas, Rakshak Naik (Sporting Clube de Goa), Anthony Fernandes, Valente D’ Silva, Shishuram Chutia (Salgaocar).
Transferred: Marcus Mascarenhas (Salgaocar), Israel Gurung (Churchill Bros), Thomas D’ Sousa (Vasco).
