Brisbane Roar take on Dempo SC in their opening group game of the Bhausaheb Bandodkar Memorial Trophy at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Saturday night.
The tournament which is held in memory of Goa’s first chief minister the late, Bhausaheb Bandodkar consists of teams from the Indian Super League, I-League, Argentine Primera Division club, Defensa y Justicia as well as Roar.
Alongside Brisbane Roar and Dempo SC in Group A are FC Goa and Sporting Club De Goa with the sides that finish first and second in the group progressing to the Semi Finals.
Dempo are based in Panaji, Goa and finished second in the 2024 I-League season, the second tier of football in India.
The club who are managed by former Indian international defender, Samir Naik has five national league titles and became the first Indian football club, to reach the Semi-final of the AFC Cup in 2008.
For Roar new recruits, Ben Warland, Marcus Ferkranus, Hosine Bility, Harry Van Der Saag, Walid Shour, Ben Halloran and Adam Zimarino have all travelled as part of Ruben Zadkovich’s squad with the Roar boss overseeing his first pre-season and transfer window ahead of the 2024/25 Isuzu UTE A-League season.
Youngsters Lucas Herrington, James Durrington and Ivan Ozzi are all in contention to play with the first team for the first time after impressing for Young Roar throughout their 2024 NPL Queensland campaign.
Roar midfielder, Jay O’Shea said there’s a real buzz amongst the group ahead of Saturday’s tournament opener.
“The boys are really excited about the opportunity to go overseas and play a pre season tournament against some top quality opposition,” O’Shea said.
“It’s a great chance for the group to get to know each other even better and it helps the new signings and the younger players feel more comfortable in the group.
“Dempo will be a tough test for us but we have done a lot of work on the training pitch over the last couple of months so we feel that we are well prepared to go out there and put in a good performance in our first game of the tournament.”
All matches at the Bhausaheb Bandodkar Memorial Trophy will be broadcast live and free on FIFA+ and the SportsCast India YouTube channel.
MATCH DETAILS
Bhausaheb Bandodkar Memorial Trophy: Dempo SC vs Brisbane Roar
Saturday, August 24 (11:30pm AEST KO)
PJN Stadium, Fatorda
BRFC squad – Bhausaheb Bandodkar Memorial Trophy:
1. Macklin FREKE, 2. Scott NEVILLE, 3. Corey BROWN, 4. Ben WARLAND, 5. Marcus FERKRANUS, 6. Joe CALETTI, 8. Walid SHOUR, 10. Florin BERENGUER, 11. Jez LOFTHOUSE, 12. Lucas HERRINGTON, 15. Hosine BILITY, 16. Thomas WADDINGHAM, 17. Harry VAN DER SAAG, 19. Jack HINGERT, 21. Antonee BURKE-GILROY, 23. Keegan JELACIC, 26. Jay O’SHEA, 27. Ben HALLORAN, 29. Matt ACTON, 30. Quinn MACNICOL, 35. Louis ZABALA, 43. Adam ZIMARINO, 47. James DURRINGTON, 49. Ivan OZZI, Joshua LAKKIS (triallist)
