Mumbai City head coach Jorge Costa is pleased with the quality of Indian players in his squad for the sixth season of the Indian Super League (ISL).
Ahead of his team's first game of the season, against Kerala Blasters in Kochi on Thursday, he touched upon the fact that his forward line consists of two foreign players. With Indian football struggling to produce goalscoring strikers, Costa said he has had to accept the reality of the situation.
"This is the reality. We can have seven foreigners. The good thing, thinking about my team, is that in the other positions, I have Indian players with a lot of quality. So building the team with the foreign players that we had a chance to sign, it was not easy for us. Because our budget is not so high."
India international midfielder Rowllin Borges joined Mumbai City in the summer and the former NorthEast United man, alongside Raynier Fernandes and Paulo Machado, is expected to boost the team's output from the centre of the park.
Sportzpics
"We have been following Borges for the last season. We signed him before the other eight clubs did. He is a player who will help us a lot during the season," Costa said.
Kerala Blasters head coach Eelco Schattorie had earlier said that it was a challenge for his team to face Mumbai City as the fixture schedule allows them to play their first game two days after Blasters played theirs, which meant Costa had access to how the Yellow Army lined up.
The Mumbai City gaffer feels that is not a big deal. "It was like this last season. You will never see me trying to find an excuse. It is true, they don't know what we can do. What we will do. That is okay. They play two homes at home, I start with two away games. That is why the club pays all the coaches, to find ways to do things well."
The Portuguese coach also said that nothing about Kerala Blasters this season has surprised him.
"New players, new coach. So we cannot compare this team to the team last season. We studied the team but it was the first game of the season. It was not a wonderful game, but it was very good. I watched Kerala Blasters for the first time but it was not a surprise. I knew the players, I know the coach."
