ISL 2018 | It will be a challenge to beat World Atletico, declares Eelco Schattorie

NorthEast United FC registered a 2-2 draw against FC Goa as they bagged their first points of the season in Guwahati earlier this week. NEUFC coach, Eelco Schattorie, was happy with his team’s performance but hoped to take things one step ahead as they gear up to face World Atletico at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata.

Schattorie was optimistic of his team’s chances ahead of today’s game and added that the Kolkata-based team will be fresh after their four-day rest. Schattorie spoke about how expectations are high from him and the rest of the backroom staff to make the playoffs, something which the NorthEast outfit has never managed to do.

"ATK, who lost their first game, will be playing us at home. We needed today’s rest. They have had four days of rest. Playing in this humidity will be more difficult. So, of course, it’s a challenge.

“Anywhere you go, people will always expect you to win and I always tell myself, I can only work from day to day, assess what we have and then try to do my best,” Schattorie said in a pre-match press meet.

The Dutch coach also spoke about the previous game against FC Goa, where his side had to settle for a point. Schattorie spoke about the positives he took from the game. 

“First of all, I think it was a good result for us because our pre-season was pretty difficult as we weren’t really tested. You play your first game against Goa, who have the same coach, same kind of players and similar strategies, so a 2-2 draw is actually a very good result. You could see that we wanted to get a result. Of course, we wanted to win, you can see that from the second half chances, but overall, I’m happy with the result,” he added.