By Shoubhik Mukhopadhyay
I-League Media Team
NEW DELHI: The day is gone when the IT city people go berserk about Hero I-League, even the Blues have flipped the page of Federation Cup which they clinched recently, having added another feather in their cap. In comes the International stage, the Acid Test of the toddler who sends out a strong message to other Asian powerhouses in the likes of Al-Jazeera, Al-Kuwait and Perispura Jayapura.
While the media and fans went gaga over their exemplary success on their debut season, the gaffer Ashley Westwood had an extensive plan at the back of his mind. He had come down to India not just to sign off with the league, but to write their name on stone, to propagate the Blues’ name beyond the border. The uphill task, ‘AFC Cup’, was neither a walk in the park nor an uncanny one and it could be accomplished eventually with sheer training and astute planning; Westwood is armed with adequate ammos in his arsenal.
Bengaluru FC kicked off their 2014-15 season on a high note while they tucked away first silverware of the season, Federation Cup. Come last week of February, the Blues started off their voyage-de-AFC Cup against Maziya. The Asian newcomers pipped their fellow rivals by an impregnable 2-1 margin. Their ship got shaken a little against Perispura, the intimidating Indonesian club. Bengaluru FC fell short and could not avoid a scruffy 1-3 defeat. Ashley Westwood, the street smart manager, was successful to inculcate the ‘steel-nerve’ mentality among his boys who reciprocated strongly within seven days and ousted the Singaporean Warriors. Thanks to Joshua Walker whose immaculate penalty earned all three important points for his team, no matter what, the points came after 90 minutes of no less than blood and iron fisticuffs.
After a hiatus of almost one month, Bengaluru FC took on Warriors in Singapore at their own backyard. Despite hitting the ground amidst strong support for the opponents, the Indian powerhouse showed no sign of sluggishness and muscled a victory owing to Robin Singh who scribbled his name in the score sheet. Perispura has been the outright winner in the group who thwarted every single opponent and already put one step in the knockout stage. The speculation was on, how could Westwood encash the situation? Amid huge calculation and scrutiny, Bengaluru FC departed for Maldives.
Kingfisher East Bengal, who almost penned a fairy tale last year while drifted to AFC Cup semi-final, were warming up for their AFC Cup faceoff to stay buoyed in the tourney. Home fans, the real 12th men, were behind the Red & Gold. Perispura was smacking goal after goal and Warriors were gasping to come out of the catastrophe. Maziya S&RC smote on the hour-mark, thanks to Pablo Rodriguez. Bengaluru FC attack fell astray, their game was going haywire and shambolic.
Westwood, captain cool, introduced Joshua Walker and newest hunk of Indian football Eugensen Lyngdoh just 25 minutes to the final whistle. The fresh pair of legs left Maziya defenders perplexed, they were trapped within 5 minutes. Veteran Sunil Chhetri kept his cool and slotted it home from the 6 yard box. Blues unnerved MaziyaS&RC with plethora of attacking moves, albeit the finishing touch was eluding them. 12 minutes to the whistle, Sunil Chhetri found the net. The stadium became absolutely numb, so as the home players.
The IT city heroes are poised at a crucial juncture where creating history by winning successive I-League trophies within first 2 years of seeing the daylight is not a daydream, rather an enigma for rest of the Indian clubs who are yet to adopt the rule of thumb. The gate pass to AFC Cup Round of 16 is nothing less than a historical chapter of the enviable football book of Bengaluru FC. There isn’t any room for complacency as the final round robin match against daunting Perispura is left. A draw would be enough for the Singaporean outfit to fix a date with Pahang, otherwise they have to settle with mighty South China. Hence, they would leave no stone unturned against the Blues to avoid South China, unarguably the weightier opponent between them. Westwood, who has proven his credibility time and again, has to draw an ace up his sleeve to outplay the antagonist. May the Blues get pluckier and mightier with time, may the Blues represent India in bigger and broader stage.
