Saturday's match against ONGC Mumbai will decide if Viva Kerala will be rewarded for eight months of hard work. The whole season, the team has prepared for the 2nd Division in order to gain promotion to the I-League. And now, it all comes down to the important battle against the Mumbai-based team. Only a win will see the young boys from Kerala through.

Viva started the 2nd Division Final Round campaign on a bright note by beating Lajong SC as well as SESA FA. However, the team failed to convert  the "matchballs" against Pune FC and Salgaocar SC respectively.

 

"The boys did not perform to their usual best in these matches. They were unable to cope with the early goals we conceded.", says A.M. Sreedharan. "Apart from that, we missed a lot of ease chances to score, for example the penalty against Pune FC that Babatunde shot wide".

 

Adding to this, the team is plagued by many injuries. First of all, first choice 'keeper Shahin Lal sustained an injury against Pune FC and had to sit out against Salgaocar. It was evident that Anoop could not fill his shoes. Furthermore, important players like Bello Rasaq, Sathish Kumar, K.V. Lalu and Shahbas Saleel are also carrying injuries and are doubtful against ONGC. Should these players not be available, it would be a major blow as Viva lacks a certain bench strength.

 

Nevertheless, the coach knows that his side is "the fittest team here. My boys might be inexperienced, but they developed a good fighting- and team-spirit during the last weeks. If we can bring that back, everything is possible."

 

We will cheer for VIVA and hope that the team will win on Saturday in order to make the I-League dream a reality.

 

GO VIVA GO!

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