Happy with the character of my team, says Carles Cuadrat after Hyderabad triumph

East Bengal boss Carles Cuadrat also praised Hyderabad FC manager Thangboi Singto.

East Bengal got their 2024 Kalinga Super Cup campaign off to a good start with a thrilling 3-2 win over Hyderabad FC in their first group game in Bhubaneswar. In an end-to-end game, a brace from Cleiton Silva and winner from Saul Crespo helped the Red & Gold Brigade pick up three important points.

Cuadrat pleased with the result

Carles Cuadrat was happy to see his side begin the campaign with a much-needed win, as he said afterwards: “We’re very happy with the performance. It was important to start the tournament with three points so we met the target. The performance was good. We’ve been defensively very good in the last game, but we conceded twice today. We’re in a position to improve and are going to look forward to the next match.”

Thoughts on conceding two goals

The Spaniard wasn’t that perturbed to see his side concede two goals after keeping four clean-sheets in-a-row in the Indian Super League (ISL) last month. He said: “We have to be very positive. It’s difficult when you concede twice and then to come back from that. I’m happy with the mentality and character of my team. We had the injury of Mandar and some of the players out due to the national team games, so it was difficult to get clean-sheets. We had two new names playing in defence, and they have been doing good work but are a bit short in concentration in the defence. But we played to get goals until the last moment. In general, I’m very happy with the win.”

Plan for games ahead and praise for Hyderabad

Carles Cuadrat hinted that he’ll more or less go with the same team for the remaining Kalinga Super Cup games. He said: “We have been playing good games with this team. I appreciate the chance to pick a lot of foreigners. So in general we’ll go forward in the same way.”

The mentor also had praise for Hyderabad FC’s performance and the work Thangboi Singto has done with them. He claimed: “They are a very good team and try to play good football always. I know the opposition coach from 2016. I was coaching Bengaluru and he was at Shillong Lajong that season. I always saw his team play encouraging football. Good luck to him. They are practising nice football. They are doing a very good work.”

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