THE BLOG BY CPD FOOTBALL | The World of Indian football and beyond by Chris Punnakkattu Daniel

NorthEast United FC arriving in Goa to kick-start pre-season

Ricki Herbert
Ricki Herbert

Picture courtesy Hero Indian Super League / IMG-Reliance

Marquee player Joan Capdevila’s arrival saw the last of ‘The Highlanders’ come together to march on forward to the inaugural season of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL). North East United FC’s squad is now complete and will arrive in Goa on September 23, for three friendly games as part of their pre-season training before the ISL kicks off.

A day prior to their departure for the pre-season friendlies, the entire team got together for dinner before they left for Goa.

Owner of NEUFC, John Abraham, who also attended the dinner, expressed his enthusiasm on the coming together of his team, “At this point, I feel the ISL is creating the impact that we all anticipated. The NorthEast United side has finally come together with all our highlanders standing tall. Also with their arrival in Goa for the pre-season friendlies, I feel it will bring the new team together, as they will have enough time to get to know each other on and off the field, which is imperative to the overall team development. I wish my team the very best and am sure under the guidance of manager Ricki Herbert they can go the distance.”

NorthEast United’s veteran coach and manager Ricki Herbert is delighted to at last set eyes on his full team as he had envisioned it. He is confident in the squad and stated, “After training over the last four weeks in Shillong, we now head to Goa for the next phase of our preseason. There have been more contracted players arriving in India, so we are steadily moving towards our full roster. Goa will provide the opportunity for all players to get match time, and me a chance to look at a variation of players in the team.”

With the momentum that this league has gained up until now, NorthEast United FC is all set to embark on this new journey of this year’s Hero ISL championship.