Players are hungry to win every match, says Mario Rivera ahead of SCEB vs OFC

SC East Bengal is going to face Odisha FC in the match no. 84 of Hero ISL. Both SCEB and OFC got 1 point in their last league game by a scoreline of 1-1 against CFC and FCG respectively. SC East Bengal head coach Mario Rivera faced the media before the match.

Before their match against Odisha FC, Mario Rivera was asked about their performance against Chennaiyin FC in the last match, to which he answered, “The performance against Chennaiyin FC in the second half was one of our best. It will be right up the list along with the first half of the 2nd leg of Kolkata Derby.”

SC East Bengal is virtually out of the Playoff race, so when Mario was asked about the way he is motivating the players to give their best in this situation, he said, “The players are professionals, they are hungry to win every match, score goals. So there’s no question about any lack of motivation.”

When asked about the chances of SCEB to finish mid-table this season, Mario shared his thoughts, “We are not thinking about that, we are only thinking about the next match, we will go match by match and will always try to get the next three points.”

He told the media about his message to the players before the 2nd half in the last game, “In the dugout at half-time in the Chennaiyan FC match, I asked the players to be braver. I asked them to play freely and they delivered.”

The Spaniard admitted the qualities of Odisha FC when talking about them. “Odisha FC are a balanced side, they always have four-plus-two players behind the ball so it’s very difficult to surprise them. They have some good players who have experience in the ISL and some of them have also played in the La Liga,” he said.

The last question was about SCEB’s Brazilian Centre Forward Marcelo Riberio’s performance and expectations from him in the next matches, Mario praised Marcelo Ribeiro for his efforts and he was looking confident, he said, “Marcelo has been working hard, providing us with chances in the opponent half. He won almost all the duels in the Chennaiyan FC match. He is involved in all our attacks someway or the other.”

– Anindya Ganguly