The Salt Lake Stadium is set to come alive as the legendary Pele graces the match between Atletico de Kolkata host Kerala Blasters in their first home game of the season,  with his presence as both sides look to continue their undefeated runs.

"It is fantastic that the great Pele will be coming to watch the match. This is a brilliant idea," ATK coach Antonio Lopez Habas said. "I will give no excuses. I have 18 fit players for the game and I have confidence in them," said the ATK coach.  “We have a lot of respect for Kolkata. We know they won the competition last year; we know they have a strong team; we know they have had a bit more rest than us," he said.

Kerala Blasters head coach Peter Taylor is also excited and said,. "Everybody would be inspired by Pele watching the game.” "I played against him for 20 minutes.  My proudest moment. I never managed to take the ball off him." It was in 1976 that Taylor, representing England, played against Pele, who was part of the Team America XI. Pele was with New York Cosmos at that time.

Taylor said, “We have two players away with the national team, Sandesh Jhingan and Calvin Lobo and it is lovely that these players are playing for India, but no fresh injuries from Saturday do help our cause.” “Tiredness not only affects the performance, but may also cause injuries,” Taylor said.

Boosted by the presence of the legendary Pele, defending champions Atletico de Kolkata will look to open their home campaign on a winning note when they face Kerala Blasters FC.

"We're not disappointed. We have kept a clean sheet and that is something we can build on. We could have played better, but Mumbai City came out very determined and played tough. We've come away with a good point," Ramage said as both ATK and KBFC are same on points tally with an identical one win, one draw from two matches.

Kerala Blasters Team: Ramandeep Singh, Peter Ramage, Carlos Marchena (Marquee), Cavin Lobo, João Coimbra, Chris Dagnall, Sanchez Watt, Ishfaq Ahmed, Shankar Sampingiraj,     C.K. Vineeth, Mehtab Hossain, Sandesh Jhingan, Gurwinder Singh, Manandeep Singh, Mohammed Rafi, Bruno Perone, Saumik Dey, Marcus Williams, Stephen Bywater, Peter Carvalho, Pulga, Josue, Shilton Paul, Rahul Bheke, Sandip Nandy.

Atletico de Kolkata Team:     Juan Calatayud, Javi Lara, Nallappan Mohanraj, Tiri, Arnab Mondal, Baljit Sahni, Iain Hume, Jaime Gavilán, Hélder Postiga, Borja, Valdo, Denzil Franco, Amrinder Singh, Nadong Bhutia, Clifford Miranda, Jewel Raja, Josemi (Captain), Sushil Kumar Singh, Syed Rahim Nabi, Rino Anto, Arata Izumi,     Sameehg Doutie, Ofentse Nato, Augustin Fernandes, Lalchhawnkima,     Kunzang Bhutia

By Premji