Eyeing for their first win, Golden Eagles take on Namdhari FC at Fatorda today
Fatorda: Dempo Sports Club return to home soil today as they host Namdhari FC at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Fatorda in Matchweek 6 of the Indian Football League 2025–26.
Four away games in a row have tested this group physically and mentally. The 3-1 defeat to Sreenidi Deccan last week was a difficult moment, but Head Coach Samir Naik believes the week back in Goa has made all the difference.
“The last match the team was not in a really good shape,” Naik said. “But now that we are back to home and had some training sessions, we have regrouped, worked on certain things and I feel there is a lot of positivity in the team.”
That positivity has been shaped by intent. Naik has been clear throughout this campaign that lapses in concentration rather than a lack of quality have been the difference between Dempo picking up points and going home empty handed. Those areas, he says, have been addressed.
“There were certain things we worked on particularly,” he said. “Some lack of concentration cost us these games and we have worked on that. I am pretty sure it is going to be a different Dempo team altogether tomorrow.”
With the IFL table as tight as it has been this season, Thursday’s fixture at home carries real significance for Dempo. A win on Thursday at home in front of Dempo’s supporters would not just lift the Golden Eagles off the bottom but inject genuine momentum into a squad that has been on the brink of something all season.
Left-back Saiesh Bagkar, one of the club’s bright young Goan talents, echoed his coach’s measured optimism. For the Golden Eagle, the mood in camp tells a different story to the one the league table currently shows.
