CALCUTTA (India): Mohammedan Sporting coach Saheed Ramon exuded confidence ahead of his team’s participation at the 39th Sikkim Governor’s Gold Cup.
Royal FC, Jamshedpur FC (reserve), Punjab Police XI, Army (Red), BSS Sporting Club, Eastern Railways, Kidderpore SC, Gokulam FC, Sikkim Himalayan SC, Sikkim Police and Sikkim State Police are competing in the tournament.
“We have had a good preparation and hope to do well in the tournament,” said Ramon.
The Black Panthers, who won the Sikkim title in 2016, came close to winning the Calcutta Football League after 38 years, but finished fourth.
“We built a good rhythm during Calcutta League. I want the players to carry on this momentum,” added Ramon.
Mohammedan coach wants to use the tournament as a preparation for the 2nd Division League.
“Governor’s Gold Cup is important as a positive result will boost the team’s confidence,” said the Nigerian.
Mohammedan, who are directly seeded in the quarterfinals, will take on the winners from the qualifiers featuring Kidderpore and Army Red on November 8.
Earlier, the tournament was inaugurated on Friday by Sikkim chief minster PS Golay at Paljor Stadium.
The inaugural qualifying match featured State Sports Academy (SSA) Gangtok and Royal FC Siliguri, who won by Niraj Basnett goal.
Squad:
GOALKEEPERS: Priyant Singh, Subham Roy, Miraj Ali (MSC U19)
DEFENDERS: Fallou Diouf, Prosenjit Paul, Balwinder Singh, Kamran Farooque, Sujit Sadhu, Hira Mondal, Bikash Saini, Safiul Rahman
MIDFIELDERS: Satyam Sharma, Tirthankar Sarkar, Vanlalbiaa Chhangte, Sanjib Ghosh (MSC U19), Firoj Ali, Sujoy Dutta
FORWARDS: Sarba Camara, Mohammed Farid, Charles Atcha.
