Bengaluru: Having taken the Indian football league by storm and sculpted an image as a team that is hard to beat, Bengaluru Football Club has had a dream run in its maiden I-League season much to the delight of the football faithful in the Garden City.
Perched pretty at the top of the pile, the Bengaluru side is now all set to taste their first Cup competition in their short, but impressive, history when they take on Sporting Clube De Goa at Manjeri, Kerala on January 15 in the 35th edition of the Federation Cup.
Having had a bit of a rest since their last outing, BFC ‘gaffer’ Ashley Westwood believes that the rest has done some good to his side.
“We gave the boys seven days off and had some good fitness training,” said the BFC coach while waving away the favorites tag right from the outset.
Placed in what is easily the proverbial group of death, with second placed I-League side Sporting Clube, defending champions East Bengal and Rangdajied United FC alongside in Group B, the former Blackburn Rovers assistant manager knows that the Men of Steel have their work cut out.
“If you give East Bengal some points for the games they have in hand, you could say that the three best teams in the I-League are in our group,” said the Manchester United youth product while hoping their I-League momentum gives them the edge. BFC has very little injury worries, Lalrozama Fanai being the only player on the treatment table.
With John Johnson back in the side after an injury, the Men in Blue will hope to continue their solid defensive performance with the wily John Menyongar, the industrious Beikhokhei Beingaichho and the surprise package Siam Hangal key in transitioning defense to attack seamlessly.
In the attacking department, Sean Rooney has been in good form from the word go and with Robin Singh finally opening his goal tally in the last game, BFC’s forward line has been giving opposition defenders nightmares.
None more so, than the captain Sunil Chhetri.
Having initially struggled on the left wing position given to him, Chhetri has come out firing on all cylinders and has nine league goals to his name.
“I love the position to be honest. Initially I was not very happy from inside but now I really enjoy it. I am getting hang of the position and I will improve,” said a confident Chhetri.
Like the coach, India’s highest goal-scorer was keen to brush off the contenders’ tag. “We are the first timers. We don’t really have to pressurize ourselves. We may not be the most talented team in the country but we are a hard team to play against,” finished the confident skipper.
While the Cup tournaments have been historically filled with unexpected twists and turns, BFC will look to make their debut season a dream one. And with their trademark resilience and hard work, the trophy hardly looks an empty dream.
