2015 Atlético de Kolkata season explained

Season:2016
Mgrtitle:Head Coach
Chrtitle:Sporting Director
Motto:Fatafati Football
League Topscorer: Iain Hume (11 goals)
Highest Attendance:68,340
Lowest Attendance:35,437
Average Attendance:51,056
Nextseason:2016

The 2015 season was Atlético de Kolkata's second season in the Indian Super League. They started their second season as the defending champions, and ended the season as the semi-finalists.

Background

On 15 May 2015, Atlético de Kolkata's board announced that they would retain former Bolivia and Valencia CF manager Antonio Lopez Habas for the 2015 season. It was under him that the team had won the title in 2014. However, in spite of their first season, the team decided in retaining just 7 players from their squad of 2014, including 3 foreigners. The team signed 5 Indians and 10 foreigners from the open market.[1] This was followed by 7 more domestic signings from the Draft.[2]

On 29 July 2015, the team signed Portuguese international Hélder Postiga as its marquee player.[3]

On 25 August 2015, the team went on pre season tour to Madrid, Spain where they trained for a month.

Players

On 5 June 2015, the team acquired Canadian international forward Iain Hume, whose five goals had helped Kerala to the final of the previous season.[4] In the second season's domestic draft, Atlético de Kolkata had the first pick, choosing Pune F.C. goalkeeper Amrinder Singh for a fee of 4.5 lakhs; their most expensive purchase was that of defender Augustin Fernandes for 26 lakhs.[5] On 29 July, with García released due to his injury record, the team brought in Portugal international forward Hélder Postiga as their new marquee player; aged 32, he became the youngest such player in the league.[6] They finalized their squad of 26, for the year, by 29 July 2015.

On 4 November, the team decided to sign last year final's goalscorer Mohammed Rafique replacing Lalchhawnkima who was ruled out due to Dengue.[7]

On 11 November 2015, the team announced the signing of Serbian international Dejan Lekić to replace injured Josemi[8]

On 16 November 2015, the team announced replacement for another injured player Javi Lara, who found it hard to recover quickly from a groin injury. For him, another Spanish midfielder Jorge Alonso was signed.[9]

Current squad

[10]

No.Nat.NameDate of Birth (Age)
Goalkeepers
1Juan Calatayud1979 12, df=yes
13Amrinder Singh (on loan from Pune)1993 5, df=yes
26Kunzang Bhutia1994 1, df=yes
Defenders
3Nallappan Mohanraj1989 2, df=yes
4Tiri1991 1, df=yes
5Arnab Mondal (on loan from East Bengal)1989 9, df=yes
12Denzil Franco1986 6, df=yes
19Syed Rahim Nabi1985 12, df=yes
20Rino Anto (on loan from Bengaluru FC)1988 1, df=yes
24Augustin Fernandes (on loan from Salgaocar)1988 10, df=yes
Midfielders
8Jaime Gavilán1985 5, df=yes
10Borja Fernández1981 1, df=yes
11Valdo1981 4, df=yes
15Clifford Miranda1982 7, df=yes
16Jewel Raja1990 1, df=yes
21Arata Izumi1982 7, df=yes
22Sameehg Doutie1989 5, df=yes
23Ofentse Nato1989 10, df=yes
85Jorge Alonso1985 1, df=yes
Forwards
6Baljit Sahni (on loan from East Bengal)1987 1, df=yes
7Iain Hume1983 10, df=yes
9Hélder Postiga1982 8, df=yes
14Nadong Bhutia1993 11, df=yes
18Sushil Kumar Singh (on loan from Shillong Lajong)1982 1, df=yes
28Mohammed Rafique (on loan from East Bengal)1992 9, df=yes
30Dejan Lekić1985 6, df=yes

Competitions

Indian Super League

See main article: 2015 Indian Super League season.

Results by round

Matches

Semi-finals

Player statistics

Goal Scorers

No.PositionNationPlayerGoal(s)Appearance(s).
7FWHume1116
21MFIzumi511
22MFDoutie312
9FWPostiga21
30FWLekić26
11MFValdo110
10MFBorja115
2MFLara16
24DFAugustin113
3DFMohanraj16
Total28 -

Assists Table

No.PositionNationPlayerAssist(s)Appearance(s).
22MFDoutie612
8MFGavilán316
7FWHume316
2MFLara16
10MFBorja115
21MFIzumi111
23MFNato112
30FWLekić16
Total17 -

Notes and References

  1. News: Atletico de Kolkata Retain Coach Antonio Habas, Sign New Indian Players for 2015 ISL . 15 May 2015 . IANS . NDTV Sports . 23 October 2018 .
  2. Web site: 2015 ISL Domestic Player Draft: As it Happened.
  3. Web site: Atlético sign Helder Postiga.
  4. News: Atletico de Kolkata sign Canadian forward Iain Hume. 5 June 2015. The Times of India. 5 June 2015.
  5. News: ISL 2015 Domestic Players Draft: As it happened. 27 August 2015. SportsKeeda. 10 July 2015.
  6. News: Bhattacharya. Nilesh. In big coup, Atletico de Kolkata rope in Portugal World Cupper Helder Postiga. 27 August 2015. The Times of India. 30 July 2015.
  7. News: Atletico de Kolkata sign Indian midfielder Rafique. 4 November 2015. PTI. Zee News.
  8. Web site: Indian Super League: Atlético de Kolkata agree terms with Serbia International Dejan Lekić. Mitra. Atanu. 11 November 2015. 12 November 2015.
  9. Web site: Will new signings Dejan Lekic and Jorge Alonso power Atletico de Kolkata to the semi-finals of ISL 2015?. Majumdar. Rajarshi. 17 November 2015. 18 November 2015. International Business Times, Indian Edition.
  10. Web site: Squad. Indian Super League. 11 September 2015. 31 July 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170731112446/http://www.indiansuperleague.com/atletico-de-kolkata/squad. dead.