We want to take each game at a time, says BFC coach Naushad Moosa

The Blues finished at the top of the Group C standings to qualify for the Durand Cup knockouts.

Bengaluru FC will lock horns with Army Green at the Salt Lake stadium on September 24 in the quarter final of the Durand Cup on Saturday. Both teams have had their fair share of ups and downs in the tournament so far. While Naushad Moosa and his boys made an extraordinary 5-3 comeback against Indian Navy - Army Green have been consistently on the rise since their first match.

The winner of the game will face ISL outfit FC Goa in the semi-finals on Sunday. Meanwhile, ahead of Saturday's game against Army Green, Bengaluru FC assistant coach Naushad Moosa spoke at the pre-match press conference.

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Going into the next game

Naushad Moosa was asked about the team's confidence and mentality ahead of facing Army Green. "We're really focused. Just keeping them (the players) grounded so that they stay humble. Despite the comeback, I want them to learn from their mistakes in the first half and forget about the second half. The good thing is they now believe that if they work hard, they can win games, especially by playing good football," he began.

"This is because it's always important to play good football after which results will follow. You can see this difference in yesterday's first and second half. You don't play good, you don't get results and if you do, you get them," he added.

Factors that sparked the comeback

Bengaluru FC trailed by two goals in the first half against Indian Navy and went on to score five in the second. Pertinent to this, the 49-year-old was asked to elaborate on the same as to how the team pulled off such a turnaround.

"Of course, if you see the performance, I guess the players weren't that focused right from the warmups. It's important that they're focused from the beginning. The warmup is one part where you decide whether you win or lose. If you have a good mindset then, you go into the game as well with the same; which I felt was missing in the first half," he opined.

"Second half, we had to work on the areas where the Navy team was beating us; dominating the midfield. Our defence was also exposed most of the time, so we had to give the players an idea about what was really happening," Moosa recollected.

"They were falling flat and that's how Navy was penetrating every time. If you look at the Navy team, they were fast and strong while we had several youngsters. We had to look for solutions for the same instead of worrying about it and that's exactly what we did. That's how we got the result."

Quarter Finals expectations

The Bengaluru FC tactician was asked about the kind of challenges he was expecting while going to face Army Green. The team have won two out of three games till now in the Durand Cup, including one where they took down ISL side Jamshedpur FC 3-1.

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"The armed forces sides are more physical. As far as their fitness level and speed of the game is concerned, we have to be extremely careful about that. It will be the same as facing the Navy team. I've been watching all their games and it will not be an easy match. So, I just tell my boys that the game isn't over till 90 minutes.

"Something which they really proved against the Indian Navy football team. They were a bit low after being down by two goals in the first half. But they did come back in the second half after we gave them some feedback," Moosa quipped.

"Basically, we have youngsters on the pitch and they have to decide what's going wrong; not wait for instructions after 45 minutes all the time. Now that they've experienced this, they know about it. Hopefully, it (this experience) should help us in the next game."

On potentially winning the tournament

The Blues have never won the Durand Cup in their history. Their best performance was in 2014 when they lost the semi-finals on penalties. However, in the current edition, they have already made it to the knockouts.

"What we're thinking about is the next game. Right now, I don't know my opponent; which I think too much about. So it's better for my team and I to focus on tomorrow's game," Naushad Moosa expressed.

"If in case, we win, then we plan for the semi-finals and think about our opponents. Of course, we'd love to play in the finals because we're not here as tourists, but to play good football. So, we want to go with that mindset and take each game at a time," he continued.

"The last game is now history, you peak for one day and it's gone. Now it's all about the next game. It all depends because you never know how each team performs on that particular day. That's how the sport is. So, it's not going to be easy and let me focus on this game and not the semi-final yet."

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On the squad's depth

Naushad Moosa expressed his opinions on Bengaluru FC's squad depth, the decision-making involved as a result along with the benefits of having it in the first place.

"In the Durand Cup, the idea is to give players game time. That's what Marco (Pezzaiuoli) wants; to give playing time to those who will be key for us in the ISL. Bidya (Bidyashagar Singh) played in the first game and Leon (Augustine) in the second. So, I've been rotating players. Bhutia (Namgyal Bhutia) was also there in the first but then went down with an ankle injury. But we want to give players like him more opportunities."

"It's not easy for a coach to make decisions. First, it was Bidya who came on and scored and then Leon. So, I should be happy that I have good substitutions. If I'm playing Bidya, Leon can come on later and do the work and if it's Bidya, Leon can do it.

"This basically means we have good bench strength which is very important for any team. And this helps Marco when he's preparing for the ISL. It gives him great confidence because you have Sunil (Chhetri), Udanta (Singh), Ashique (Kuruniyan), Harmanpreet (Singh) and a lot of other options. This is a good sign. But yes, it's a difficult job for the coach to please everyone. Especially when you have such good players playing all the time," he further added.

Regarding the early kick-off

Bengaluru FC face Army Green on Saturday afternoon as the match will kick-off on 2:00 PM. Speaking about whether an early kick-off will change things for his side, he responded, "It's not going to be easy. Even the 3 PM games were difficult in the first half and playing at 2 will be even more difficult. Our intensity might also go low, you never know, as it's very humid in Kolkata. We'll have to be more careful and not make unnecessary runs. But yes, we have young players who want to perform and show their capabilities. It all depends on the weather."

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The media, player analytics and Ajay Chhetri

The Bengaluru FC boss was asked about Ajay Chhetri's performance against the Indian Navy.

"If you see his game, he can do a lot more. But if you see last game, he was trying, he was much better than the other games. I could see positive body language. If he gives his 100%, imagine how good a player he can be. He also went to analysts and asked about his game, to see how he was playing. I'm sure this really helped him think about the situation and work on it," he concluded.

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