After a poor first season, Delhi Dynamos made it to the semi-finals last year under Brazillian World Cup winner Roberto Carlos only to lose 1-3 on aggregate to FC Goa.
In a departure from the first two seasons which had seen two head coaches in two years, Zambrotta was brought in for a two-year tenure and interestingly in his maiden ISL fixture, he will face up to his close friend and 2006 World Cup winning team-mate Marco Materzzi at the Chennaiyin dug-out at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium tomorrow.
"I am very happy with the pre-season. We had a good pre-season and am more than happy with it, but the championship starts tomorrow. We will see tomorrow if we have done a good job. We hope to do a good job," said Zambrotta at the pre-match press conference.
"For me, it's important that the team remains compact when we attack as well as when we defend but more importantly it's important to have the winning mentality. I have come here to win something," said the Italian.
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Chennaiyin are also a side with a strong defensive
structure and marquee player John Arne Riise will be the pivot of Materazzi's plans at the heart of defence. Riise played for Delhi Dynamos last year.
"I think we have to divide between pressure and obsession. We don't have any pressure to win or obsession to become champions because we have already won the tournament last year. It's a pleasure to defend the title and we will do that until the last match. I am not putting any pressure on the players," said Materazzi.
Materazzi said this was part of a learning process, particularly for the younger players in the team.
"I have to agree with the referee that it was actually a penalty (against ATK) and it happened due to inexperience. When you are 18 (years old), you tend to make these mistakes; if not, only 30 year or older players will play. You have to learn from these mistake and be cautious in the penalty area," said the Chennaiyin FC head coach who guided his team to the title last season.