Materazzi looks to overcome home defeat against Zambrotta’s Delhi

Chennaiyin FC coach Marco Materazzi will trust an altered team and strategise differently against Delhi Dynamos as he seeks to overcome the embarrassing loss in their Hero Indian Super League at home.

Chennaiyin FC lost 1-3 against a rampaging Delhi Dynamos and Materazzi has always admonished his team for the poor performance against Delhi Dynamos, coached by Gianluca Zambrotta, his former Italian teammate with whom he won the World Cup in 2006.

The teams now meet again at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday and it is clear Materazzi will settle for nothing less than a victory after a disappointing run of three draws in the last three matches.

“Delhi Dynamos are a confident team. They did well against us in our home match but every day is different. Marco has some strategy to play against Delhi tomorrow (Wednesday). There is a chance, we will have a different team, and strategy may be different (as well). It will be a tough match playing away,” said assistant coach Sabir Pasha, in the absence of Materazzi at the pre-match media briefing.

Chennaiyin FC have 10 points in seven matches, which is identical to their ISL 2015 performance where they ended up as the title winners. This time around Chennaiyin have plugged the goals after conceding five goals in their first two matches and look strong enough for the second half of the campaign.

Against Delhi Dynamos, Materazzi would have counted on the experience of marquee player John Arne Riise and midfielder Hans Mulder, both of whom played for Delhi Dynamos in the past. The experienced duo, however, are reported to be injured and look doubtful for the crucial encounter.

Form and momentum is in favour of Delhi Dynamos. They are yet to lose a home game and will move to the top of the table with a win, although Chennaiyin FC are yet to lose an away game this season. 

“It will be a nice experience to play against Marco Materazzi. We played our first game (against Chennaiyin) and it will happen again tomorrow (Wednesday). It should be a good challenge,” said Zambrotta, pointing how his team has two world champions with assistant coach Simone Barone — a member of Italy’s 2006 World Cup winning squad — among his support staff.

Delhi Dynamos have won two consecutive matches against FC Goa and Kerala Blasters by an identical 0-2 margin and will now look for a hat-trick of victories that will take them to the top of the table. “We have to remember that our target is to get to the play-off as soon as possible. We won two nice matches and I am happy because we scored (two goals) as well. The team is getting better,” said the Italian coach.