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Viva Kerala sporting a fresh and vibrant look these days

Stan Rayan

— Photo: Stan Rayan

Foreign hand: Viva Kerala will be hoping its new recruits, Guinea’s Sylla Mansa and Mohammed Conte, deliver.

KOCHI: Around this time last year, there was much confusion in the Viva Kerala camp. Even a week before the premier National League, the I-League, the club couldn’t find a decent set of foreigners, couldn’t assign specific roles to players.

The foreigners who came were either too old or were carrying injuries. There were some very talented players but they were all decades past their prime.

There’s a fresh and vibrant look about the four-year-old professional club these days. The team is young, fit and fast and like its first two years is once again loaded with local players. And the two new foreigners who have just arrived, Guinean defender Sylla Mansa and midfielder Mohammed Conte, are young and enthusiastic too.

Excited

“Yes, that’s the good thing about my boys now. They are all young and excited, in the 19-22 years range. In two years’ time, they will shape up very well,” says A. M. Sreedharan, the seasoned coach of the Kochi-based club on Friday evening, as he wound up one of the team’s last training sessions before the ongoing Federation Cup qualifiers in Bangalore.

The team, which was demoted from the I-League last season, leaves for Bangalore on Sunday.

“Give us three years and see where we go,” says P. Bhaskaran, the Chairman of the young club which was formed by a group of leading businessmen a few years ago.

Long term

“We’re looking long term now. And I have a feeling that this bunch will produce results. They all look very sincere and are hardworking too.”

The sincerity could be because the team is virtually a Kerala side once again. “We realised that having home-grown players make them accountable to our people and our State,” says Sreedharan.

“They have to face their families, friends and the fans after matches, so they work very hard. And they will be a big blessing for Kerala in the Santosh Trophy too.”

And the coach, unlike early last season, is very happy with the foreigners. “They are very different from the boys we’ve had earlier. They don’t ask for any special treatment. And they are very talented, they cover a lot of area, even defender Mansa is willing to turn back and ready to attack.”

Mohamed Conte, however, has to give up the midfield role he is more familiar with and move upfront. “We were looking at another foreign striker but that did not work out. So, we have asked Mohamed to play as a forward,” said the coach.

Conte is willing too. “We are professional players, we should be ready for anything. Only thing, if I have a good midfield to back me, I’ll be very happy,” said the 20-year-old who played in the Ivory Coast, Egypt and Thailand before landing in India.

The tall 24-year-old Mansa played in the Guinea under-16, 18 and under-20 teams and in the Egypt League and played in the Malaysian Premier League side Sarawak last season.

“We want to lift Viva Kerala back to the National Premier League. That’s our goal,” said Mansa, who like Conte, has come on a three-month contract.

However, the two foreigners will not be playing in the Federation Cup. “We’re waiting for the ITC (international transfer certificate), the formality will take a few more days,” said Sreedharan.

Main striker

The 18-year-old C. S. Sabeeth, who played for Chennai’s SBI earlier, will be the team’s main striker in Bangalore with V. K. Shibinlal being his hunting partner.

“We have a lot of very young players, like goalkeeper Shahinlal, who hold a lot of promise for the future,” said Sreedharan. “Only thing, they need experience and the Federation Cup is our first tournament. We did not even have a friendly game against a strong team this season.”

With Kerala now without a team in the I-League, there will be many anxious fans following Viva’s progress.

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