Juan Ferrando issues challenge to make ATKMB best team in Asia

The Mariners will face Abahani Dhaka in the AFC Cup qualifiers on Tuesday.

ATK Mohun Bagan are one step away from securing a place in the AFC Cup 2022 group stages, but have to defeat Bangladesh side Abahani Dhaka in the Playoffs final round on Tuesday. Ahead of the match, head coach Juan Ferrando and club captain Pritam Kotal addressed the media and shared their thoughts.

Thoughts on Abahani Dhaka

Ferrando said he and his team have respect for their next opposition. “We have a lot of respect for the opponent because it’s the same case as a week ago. It’ll be a playoff game in 90 minutes and the players from both teams will give their best. It’s a very difficult game and we give 100% respect to the opponents.”

Giving more information about how he has prepared for the game, the Spaniard said: “Our target is to watch their last 5-6 games. It’s difficult to know teams in this competition as they didn’t play against Valencia. But in the league, the Bashundhara Kings are the biggest team and they played very well against them. They controlled the spaces and played well against them.”

Advantage over Abahani Dhaka

When asked about whether ATK Mohun Bagan have a mentality advantage over the Bangladeshi side, having played one more game than them in the AFC Cup, he explained: “It’s the same for us. Even If we win 5-0 or 4-0, we know that we need to win all the games. It’s normal that when a team is down 1-0 or 2-0, they’ll play attacking football and expose spaces.

“But sometimes in transitions, it gets difficult for us. Tomorrow's opponents are great in transitions, everyone knows about (Raphael) Augusto who played in India and about the other foreigners. They create great spaces and we need to control them tomorrow,” Juan Ferrando added.

[KH_ADWORDS type="3" align="center"][/KH_ADWORDS]

Despite winning the game against Blue Star 5-0, Ferrando doesn’t expect an easy game. He said: “Every game in the future will be more difficult than the previous one. The group stages games will be very difficult than the one tomorrow. If we’re in the quarterfinals or semifinals, those games will be more difficult than the group stages. It’s normal because the confidence of the top teams is higher. We’ll try to do our best and control the emotions.”

Injury concerns in squad

When asked about the injury concerns in his squad, specifically that of Sandesh Jhingan and Roy Krishna who missed the last game, Juan Ferrando averred the team will wait until the last moment to take a call. “Michael Soosairaj is out 100% as he’s still recovering. Some other players are recovering, but I want to wait until the last moment.

I trust in my 28 players so it’s not a problem for me when someone like Amrinder (Singh) is injured. He had problems with his back and Arsh (Anwer) is there. If Arsh isn’t ready, there is Subrata (Paul). If Pritam (Kotal) isn’t ready, we have (Gursimrat) Gill. We have options and that’s most important for me.

[KH_ADWORDS type="2" align="center"][/KH_ADWORDS]

“We will wait (for Sandesh and Roy) until the last moment. Sometimes it's necessary to change the squad, but sometimes you have problems. To be honest, I have to wait until the last training before deciding the lineup. We will decide about the squad tomorrow.”

Presence of fans in the stadium

With this game being regarded as a mini ‘rival game’ as ATKMB face a Bangladeshi side like Abahani, Juan Ferrando was asked whether the fans can make a difference in the game. He explained: “In my thinking, a lot of fans will come to help us tomorrow. It’s an advantage to play at home, because the supporters are coming to support the players and the team. It’s better to play at home than away.

“When you play away you know what happens with rival supports, but at home everyone supports the team and that is fantastic. I hope the atmosphere tomorrow will be the same as it was one week ago against Blue Star. I hope we get more crowd as the limit is raised to 75% now, and I think that’s amazing,” he added.

Specific plans about any particular opposition player

Juan Ferrando was also asked if there are any specific opposition players he wants ATK Mohun Bagan to keep contained. “For me this is such an easy answer. I’m always thinking about the opponent. I repeat that (Raphael) Augusto, Daniel Colindres, and Rakib (Hussein) are all very good players.

[KH_ADWORDS type="1" align="center"][/KH_ADWORDS]

"We always have very good players, but the most important thing is we beat the best team on the pitch. Sometimes you see things like Man of the Match and individual awards. But in Europe or in America, the trophy goes to the best teams, rather than the individuals. That is my challenge that our club will be the best team in Asia.”

Importance of AFC Cup for ATK Mohun Bagan

Finally, the ATKMB coach gave a very interesting description of how important the AFC Cup is as compared to the ISL. He explained: “We’ll try to do the best tomorrow, win and do the best in the group stages. I trust in this team, they’re a good team and we have good quality players.

“If we’re playing in the next rounds, the experience of these players will get much better. In the end, we can improve as a team and as a club. International competitions are like a university. In school, you learn a lot, but your best moments are in university. The ISL is a good high school, but the AFC is an international competition which is like a university,” he added.

Pritam Kotal's thoughts

ATK Mohun Bagan captain Pritam Kotal also gave his thoughts on the game. “I agree with the coach that tomorrow is a final for us before the group games. They are a very good team and we respect them. But we’ll play our football and it should be an exciting game tomorrow and we’ll give our best.”

He also voiced displeasure over the ground condition of the Salt Lake Stadium for the last game and hopes for improvement against Abahani. Kotal said: “Ground condition wasn’t as good as we thought in the last match, but that is not in our hands. Hopefully tomorrow it’ll improve and be okay.”

Kotal also spoke about the importance of the fans for the game. “The supporters are very important for us. If we play against Hyderabad FC and had supporters in the stadium, I think we would’ve been in the final that day. It doesn’t matter who we play, the supporters are the 12th man for us and we get extra motivation from them.”