It has been a mixed start to life for Mumbai City FC in Hero Indian Super League 2017-18, as they have just two wins to show from their six encounters. The Islanders currently occupy the fifth position in the league standings and shall kick-start match week 6 by travelling to the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati on Wednesday to face NorthEast United FC. On the eve of the match, Mumbai’s Brazilian defender Gerson Vieira spoke to indiansuperleague.com along with youngster Sahil Tavora. Here are the excerpts.

Sahil, why did you choose football over any other sport?

I am from Goa and people from Goa are very passionate about football. My family was very enthusiastic about the sport and they kept watching it. Eventually, there was no other sport for me because we are all football crazy and it worked out well.

So, did you face any barrier on your way to becoming a professional footballer?

We have always had barriers coming through from the youth level to professional. There were a lot of barriers when I was younger, like the selections and then making it to the state team. You have to keep working and never give up. Something that I have always believed in is that through whatever circumstance, if you work hard, you will overcome any barrier and that’s how I made it here.

Gerson, if there is one Indian player you would like to have on your team, who would it be and why?

I would like to have Sunil Chhetri and Jackichand Singh. They are good friends of mine and they are also very good players. We had great times last season and I want to wish them good luck this season.

What are your thoughts on Mumbai City FC’s start to the season?

I think it is not as we expected. But I am also proud to be playing for such a big and great team like Mumbai. We are much more confident this season and we will achieve good things.

As you face NorthEast next, what will be your game plan against them?

I am not sure if we can reveal this, but we will fight a lot and try to play our best football game and hope to win.

Sahil, how comfortable are you guys playing away matches?

It’s a different feeling from playing home games. The atmosphere is a little bit more hostile than the home games. But it doesn’t matter where you are, you just want to do your best and do what you’ve done in training. Our objective is to always win the game.