Brazilian defender Eli Sabia rejoins Chennaiyin FC

The 29-year-old centre-back makes a comeback to the club, having made 11 appearances for CFC in the 2016 ISL campaign. He last played for Al-Raed FC in the Saudi Arabian top tier. “I am very happy to return to CFC. I always felt at home during my first stint with the club, and I am looking forward to working with John (Gregory) and my teammates,” said a buzzing Eli on his return to the club.

“I know many of the boys from before and can see that the family atmosphere within the club has remained intact. Even though I moved to another country, I had been following the team’s fortunes last season. So I am determined to help the club retain the title and can’t wait to meet the fans,” he added.

Head Coach John Gregory shared his satisfaction on the new signing, “Eli is physically strong and has a commanding presence at the back. He has played for the club before and knows what it means to be wearing these colours. He was playing in one of the top leagues of Asia and has all the qualities to play an integral role in our title defence.” Hailing from Sao Paulo, Eli began his career at local club Paulista, progressing through the youth ranks before appearing for the senior team. He had several high-profile loan spells during his time at Paulista, with one of them at Swiss top division outfit FC Lausanne in 2007-08 besides stints at Brazilian giants Santos and Atletico Paranaense.

Following his first-ever season in Indian football back in the third season of the ISL, Eli moved to Brazilian club Sertaozinho FC before switching to Al-Raed in Saudi Arabia. Eli returns to CFC on the back of 21 league appearances for Al-Raed which also saw him score one goal. The defender has already joined the pre-season training base of the two-time ISL champion in Malaysia and was presented the number 13 jersey by coach Gregory on Saturday.

The fifth edition of the Indian Super League (ISL)will commence with two-time champion ATK taking on Kerala Blasters FC at Kolkata’s Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (Salt Lake Stadium) on September 29. The ISL announced the fixtures for 2018-19 until the mid-season break, featuring 12 rounds and 59 games. 

On September 30, the last season’s runner-up Bengaluru FC will be up against defending champion Chennaiyin FC at Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru, a media release said. The organisers said the upcoming season will have three breaks, two for FIFA windows (8th-16thOctober 2018/12th-20thNovember 2018), and one starting from 17th December 2018 for the Indian national team’s preparatory camp ahead of the AFC Asian Cup in United Arab Emirates. 

They also said that the fixtures for 2019 will be announced later. The League has moved away from double headers on weekend this season and kick-off for all matches will be at 7.30 pm.