Eagles not ready, not fit, but not worried: Nima

With the new season starting today, Eagles Coach Ahmed Nimad (Nima) has said that the team isn't even close to being ready nor are they fit to play.

The Eagles will be playing against Maziya tonight in the Charity Shield match. Nima said that while the team is facing difficulties, he doesn't feel worried playing against Maziya.

He acknowledges what Maziya has done for Maldivian football.

The Eagles have faced off against Maziya the most within the last two to three years. However, Eagles are facing some tough scenarios leading up to the season this year. 

Nima stated that Eagles did not have enough time to conduct a proper pre-season, with the team starting practice close to the start of the season.

"We admit that we aren't better prepared," said Nimad. "However, we will give Maziya a good fight."

Nimad also said that due to Maziya being better prepared than Eagles, they will have the bigger advantage. 

Eagles used to have a bigger squad in the past. They also had a decent amount of younger players who were on the bench. They even had a "backup youth" team along with the senior players.

Nimad has said that Maziya is currently executing the plan of giving the backup youth team and youth players the chance to play, a plan that was maintained by the Eagles in the past.

Nima recognizes that the team's defense is the most lacking department. He had requested management to bring in two foreign defenders, with only one defender being brought in.

This is not the only issue Eagles are facing. Nima has also said that some players cannot play in the upcoming match due to injury.

"Eagles might have a shoddy performance. The team isn't fit either," said Nima.

He has stated that they will work to hold Maziya back even with all these challenges.

"We are preparing ourselves as best we can to hold our own against Maziya. This will be a difficult match," as said by Nima.

Eagles will be playing against Maziya for their first game of the Dhivehi Premier League on Thursday night. Nima has said that due to their smaller squad, their players will not have enough time to recover to play a match so soon.