You just need to trust Indian players who are talented, says NorthEast United coach Juan Pedro Benali ahead of Durand Cup 2024 final

Juan Pedro Benali also mentioned their eargerness to win the final.

After a thrilling month of end-to-end football, the Durand Cup is all set to unveil its 133rd final in Kolkata. While defending champions Mohun Bagan are expected one of the finalists, their counterparts NorthEast United have exceeded everyone’s expectations and have reached their first-ever major final since their inception.

The Mariners come into this game as clear favorites while the Highlanders have a huge uphill task at hand. It’s the ultimate game before we get underway with the 2024-25 Indian Super League (ISL) season in September. Ahead of the game, NorthEast United’s head coach Juan Pedro Benali and captain Michel Zabaco addressed the media and expressed their thoughts.

Preparations

Juan Pedro Benali began by sharing his preparation ahead of the big final and said, “As a coach, we always think to prepare the best we can.

“You always think you’re doing a good job but after the results, it is who’s the one who tells you how the preparation was and everything. About the crowd, it’s fantastic to play in Kolkata in front of a lot of fans here. I hope they will enjoy the game, that’s most important.”

Approach towards the final

Juan Pedro Benali was quizzed about his approach going into the final. He said that his team has nothing to lose and they will give their absolute best against the Mariners.

“Well, first of all, I’ll answer you with a question. Do we have something to lose? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. We’re coming to enjoy the final, try to do our best, play against a very good, fantastic and great team with a great crowd. 

Benali further added that his team respects Mohun Bagan because they are the clear favorites, but this is football and they will give their all.

“We can give absolutely everything. We don’t keep anything in the dressing room, give thousands of percent, that’s for sure. You know, then whatever is the result, we’ll be happy after. We come to win, we don’t come for tourism. But this is football, we never know. They are favorites, we respect it. They are big, we respect that. But this is football, 11 v 11,” Juan Pedro Benali added. 

Target for the upcoming season

It is safe to say that the Highlanders have made significant improvements under Juan Pedro Benali and the changes were visible last season. But, this season, the onus is on Benali and his team to deliver results because the expectations are much higher. When asked about his target for the season, the Spaniard said, “Our target is still building a team. A team that is not an elevator team. Up, down, up, down. We need to be more stable.

“This is why we try to keep most of the players as possible, not to make a lot of changes. This was also the management idea, the owner’s idea, not to change the coach, not to change everything.” 

Juan Pedro Benali also added, “They’ve been hard to keep me in the game with them. And I’m really happy to represent a region of North East. And I think this season, for us, it’s very important. We don’t put our objective for the long term.

“Our objective is the final. Our first objective was the Durand Cup and then we started thinking about ISL. But when we start thinking about ISL, it’s game by game. We don’t want to think further than this.”

Mohun Bagan’s attacking threats

The Spanish head coach was quizzed about his plans to stop the lethal forward line of Mohun Bagan. He opened up and said that both teams have their weapons and the best team will win.

“Dimitri Petratos is a good player, Greg Stewart, Jason Cummings, Sahal Abdul Samad, Manvir Singh, Liston Colaco and even Vishal kaith , everyone is involved. We have our weapons, they have their’s.

You know, they are very good players. We have very good players too. As I said, 11 v 11, they have a lot of quality. We will do our best to stop that quality. And in the end, we will shake hands, and congratulate the champion,” Juan Pedro Benali quipped.

Importance of Indian players

Speaking about the importance of Indian players, Benali said that Indian players just need trust and confidence to perform.

“Indian players, they have a lot of talents. You just need to trust them. I’m not talking only about the Mohun Bagan players. I’m talking about all Indian players. They just need to know not to be afraid to make mistakes.

“If there’s no mistake, there’s no goal, there’s no defending, there’s nothing. We need to support them and give them the chance, the young ones especially. They just need a chance, need confidence, and need to let them make mistakes.”

He also said that while Mohun Bagan recruits all the good players in the league, NorthEast United tries to make good players.

“Talking about Anirudh Thapa, he’s a great player, fantastic player, giving a lot of power to the team in the game, to all the side he plays, and a guy with a lot of quality. Mohun Bagan takes everyone good. NorthEast United, take everyone and make them good,” Benali asserted.

Message to the fans

Juan Pedro Benali signed off by sharing a message for the Highlanders Brigade and said, “It’s only one thing to be proud of. I think they are already proud that we are sitting here. We are proud to belong to NorthEast. We are proud to represent such a fantastic region.

“Whatever the result is, after the game, we think and we hope they will be very proud. We will give everything. We will make mistakes, for sure. This is life. If we make no mistakes, we’ve been gods and we are not. We are set to live it. We make mistakes. We hope we make fewer mistakes than Mohun Bagan. But we try to make them feel proud. And that’s important.” 

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