Chirag Kerala revamps

[1]

Chirag Kerala is riding high on a recent change in fortune, the highlight of which is the signing of three foreign players who are capable of elevating their I-League hopes for the next season.

The striking feature of Chirag Kerala’s new signings is that two of the foreigners are new to I-League and will be a surprise package for their opponents.

Among the two, striker Alex Carioke comes from Moto Club de São Luís in Brazil and defender Isaac Boakye from Ghana is brought in from Young Africans SC in Tanzania.

Meanwhile the third one, Kayne Vincent, is a prominent foreign striker in the I-League who has been roped in from Churchill Brothers.

A fourth foreigner in their squad is Charles Dzisah, who had decided to stay with the Kannur based side for good.

“Now we have a solid team, which has quality players in all positions. We have always lacked an attacking player and now we have Alex and Kayne,” said P. Bhaskaran, managing director of the club.

“We have cleared a major hurdle. At one point in time, it seemed as if the club was falling apart but, now things have changed drastically in our favour,” he added.

Chirag Kerala, which was previously Viva Kerala, was ripped off manpower along with sponsorship hassles after the previous season, when Kunnath Pharmaceuticals Musli Power Xtra, its sponsors backed off.

Adding to that it got an ankle-tap when their star striker Anil Kumar, who scored 18 goals last season, the highest by an Indian player, left them to join Dempo SC. Their worries worsened when their most consistent player Bello Rasaq from Nigeria vacated their centre back position and moved to Chirag United.

However, since the team struck a deal with Chirag Computers last month, things started shaping up in their favour. Now they have a probable replacement for Anil Kumar in Alex and a quality defender in place of the flamboyant Bello.

“The Ghana defender, Isaac, was a member of their national under-23 side (black satellites). We have learnt that he was a feared stopper back in his previous club, it should be a healthy replacement for Bello,” said K. Prasanthan, manager of the club.

Moreover, the management has been pressurised by their sponsors to change their coach and include Chokey Nima, a Bhutan coach who holds a license from AFC. They are also finalising a home venue.

“The chances of Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi is remote. We might be forced to go back to Kannur. But even there, according to I-League guidelines, a lot of modifications on the ground on