‘I am very happy with players’ attitude’

On the eve of the match, Marco Materazzi, the Italian World Cup winner, who is the head coach-cum-player of Chennaiyin FC and the team’s captain Bojan Djordjic answered a variety of questions from the media. So did David James, goalkeeper and Nigerian Penn Orji, skipper of Kerala Blasters, respectively.

Materazzi

On the foreign-Indian balance: For me the passport is not important. Only thing that counts is performance. We have a squad of professionals and I am very happy with their attitude. If needed, we will play more than five Indians, if they perform well.

On whether he will play: If needed yes but I am not sure.

On Abhishek Das: I like his spirit and hard work.

Bojan Djordjic

On Denson Devadas’s performance against FC Goa: He put in a shift for us but every player in our team is important starting from the Indians to the foreigners and the ones who start as the reserves. We try to help each other out both on and off the field. We are gelling very well as a unit.

On Kerala Blasters: They are a good side but we always try to do our best. Hopefully the rain gods will be with us and we will have a good game tomorrow (on Tuesday).

David James

On the pitch conditions: The grass here (Nehru Stadium) is the best I’ve seen in India. Big credit to those people who have the kept the ground in good condition (despite the rain).