Spanish flavour to spice up Jamshedpur FC’s clash against Odisha

Sell-out crowd to egg on Men of Steel

Jamshedpur, Oct 21:�Brace yourself for a Spanish derby in Indian Super League (ISL) as Jamshedpur FC takes on Odisha FC in the third match of the season at JRD Tata Sports Complex on October 22.

Interestingly, there is a Spanish flavour to this matchup which is likely to spice up things. Not only is it the battle between two Spanish tacticians but there is also a marked Spanish influence in the foreign contingent of both teams.

Jamshedpur FC Players Tiri, Piti, Aitor Monroy, Sergio Castel, Noe Acosta along with head coach Antonio Iriondo and assistant coach Victor Pulga are from the land of Tiki-Taka.

With the likes of Xisco Hernandez, Aridane Santana in the team, Odisha has five Spaniards in its outfit, just like Jamshedpur.

But going into the third Indian Super League season, Jamshedpur FC will look to secure a spot in the playoffs after narrowly missing out in the last two years as Steel City hosts one of the newest entrants in the competition, Odisha FC.

Jamshedpur has had two head coaches in the last two seasons and both of them employed their own style of play at the club. Now as Spaniard Antonio Iriondo takes over, supporters can expect an attacking philosophy.

Jamshedpur also had departures to deal with as Spanish duo Mario Arques and Sergio Cidoncha joined Kerala Blasters FC. However, it has boosted its strike force with CK Vineeth who is the third-highest Indian goal scorer in the ISL. Jamshedpur FC has also replaced the outgoing foreigners with Francisco ‘Piti’ Luna and Noe Acosta while managing to retain star players Memo and Tiri. Jamshedpur FC had its pre-match training session at Flatlets Ground on Monday morning. The first match of Jamshedpur FC this season is sold out with fans geared up to cheer the Men of Steel.    

On the other hand, Delhi Dynamos rechristened themselves as Odisha FC before the season and moved their senior team operations to Bhubaneswar owing to the high rental cost of the stadiums in Delhi.

Josep Gombau’s Delhi Dynamos only managed an eighth-placed finish but his team had a certain vigor and excitement packed into the football they played. Delhi Dynamos have now moved to Bhubaneshwar and have rebranded themselves as Odisha FC. Gombau will be looking to continue his project with the young squad at his disposal to deliver better results on the pitch.

Delhi’s star winger Lallianzuala Chhangte has left for Chennaiyin FC but the presence of Daniel Lalhlimpuia, Jerry Mawhmingthanga and Nandhakumar Sekar in the forward line will help Odisha pose a threat on the break.

Gombau�s team likes to keep the ball, and against Jamshedpur, they are up against a team that also loves to hog possession. It should make for an intriguing battle in midfield where the likes of Vinit Rai and the seasoned Marcos Tebar will play key roles for Odisha FC.        The Bhubaneswar based side arrived in the Steel City on Sunday evening and had their pre-season training also at the Flatlets Ground on Monday evening.