Played out in front of a lively contingent of supporters, many of whom had travelled from India to support Bengaluru, Air Force Club edged an even opening exchange with Amjed Radhi curling a free-kick narrowly wide inside the quarter-hour mark.
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Both sides will be playing their maiden final, to be played at the Sultan Bin Hamad Stadium, and all eyes will be on Bengaluru in what is their most important match in their three-year history. And the star of Indian football said it was a case of déjà vu after having inspired the national team to book a ticket to Doha for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup, the first time India qualified for the elite continental competition since 1984. “There is pressure on us”, said Johnson. We haven’t done anything yet by getting to the final. It’s going to take everyone to chip in with their best performances if we are to give ourselves a chance in the final. “This is the main game and the one we have been looking forward to”. We can say these guys were here in the final because they deserved that, but not enough to win.
Team captain Sunil Chhetri, also the Indian with the highest number of goals in worldwide football, was not surprisingly the crowd favourite. Just like past year, the people at the helm of affairs at the club will struggle to retain Sony Norde, undoubtedly their most important player.
Ahmed was recognised as a threat by BFC’s assistant coach Carles Cuadrat recently.
“Personally and as a team, everyone is feeling good”, he said. There was a lot of play-acting/time wasting as the game edged into the last ten minutes of the second half with Iraqi players dropping like flies.
PHYSICAL CHALLENGE Handling a physically stronger team will be BFC’s next challenge.
Bengaluru FC struck to a plan, kept their much-vaunted opponents quiet but got hit just when they decided that the situation called for a little more adventure. Spaniard Albert Roca replaced him.
“Our fans were unbelievable on the 19th against Johor and it made me really happy when I heard a few of them would be coming”. Cameron Watson, John Johnson and Juanan were regularly outmuscling Air Force forwards.
“Some of the U-17 boys will be ready for senior duty by 2019, when we start the qualification campaign for the 2022 FIFA World Cup”.
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The Iraqi side will be banking on their striker duo Amjad Radhi and Hammadi Ahmad to launch attacks on the Bengaluru defense. The Manipur lad’s pace down the flanks is an advantage and he can be used as a substitute as well. All of the Air Force players have a level that we can not achieve right now. When with the ball, Bengaluru were happy to pick Rino Anto down the right who was at his consistent best with some promising crosses in the Air Force box. About the partnership, we’re both hungry for goals and sometimes we help each other in that endeavor.
