I’m delighted to lead Mohun Bagan to ISL final, says Mohun Bagan boss Antonio Habas

Antonio Habas also praised Mohun Bagan’s players for never giving up attitude.

Mohun Bagan moved into the 2023-24 Indian Super League (ISL) final with a hard-fought 2-0 (3-2 on aggregate) win over Odisha FC in the second leg of the semi-final. Inspired by a 61,000 crowd, goals from Jason Cummings and a last-minute winner from Sahal Abdul Samad helped the Mariners book a place in the ISL final.

Antonio Habas attended the post-match press conference after the fascinating victory. Let’s take a look at the excerpts.

Antonio Habas remarks on making ISL history

Antonio Habas was extremely happy and proud to become the first coach to reach four ISL finals, doing it every time with a Kolkata club. Speaking about that after the game, he remarked: “I think my time here in the ISL has a lot of story from the first day. I’ve worked to oversee different games and with different people, but I have got the same results. I’m very happy to lead Mohun Bagan to the ISL final and we’re fighting to get the trophy in the final.”

Praise of Mohun Bagan’s energy levels

Antonio Habas cited Mohun Bagan’s positive energy level as the secret to helping them make the comeback in the second leg, as he revealed: “The team had one very important thing was their energy and believing the staff’s proportion. That’s the secret, the substitutes went into the pitch with the same intensity and same emotion as the ones who started – that was very important. The participation of the entire squad resulted in the win, and that is the most important thing about this.”

Feelings on the ISL final and praise for Sergio Lobera

When asked if the Mariners are the favorites to win the ISL final, the Spaniard stated: “We need to take the next step. I don’t want to talk much about the final until the final happens, because it’s no good luck for me. The one thing for me is to help the players recover, it’s very hard to play in these conditions and adapt to it too.

“I want to congratulate my players for showing the utmost professionalism, I’m very happy with how they performed. Now, we have to recover, prepare the match plan for the final according to who will be the opponent, and evidently, we’ll play to win.”

Habas refused to play into the claim that he got his ‘revenge’ over Odisha FC boss Sergio Lobera and gave him his flowers, saying: “No, nothing like that. For me, Lobera is maybe the best coach in the ISL, in my time and also before.

“I have a very good relationship with him and now football is about time and progress every day. Now it worked for us. I remember we lost the ISL league because of one goal a few years ago, and after that in the final I don’t want to talk much because many things can happen.”

Habas hails players’ never-give-up attitude

The Spanish gaffer also praised his players’ ‘never-give-up’ attitude leading to the late winner, remarking: “Yes. We spoke before the game in the match plan about the need to have willpower. The willpower, in my opinion, is the most important element needed in players.

“That gives you the energy to fight 90 minutes and prepare to possibly play in the extra time too. This energy is a contagious effect from one player to another. What happened is that we had a squad that had a lot of drive to win.”

Mohun Bagan’s mental shape and salute for the fans

Antonio Habas also claims that his side are mentally in their best shape right now, as he explained: “We will continue in the same way going forward. Odisha was a different threat, but we knew we could go past them with our style and supporters. The mental state of my players right now is very, very strong and I do see my players giving their 100% in every match.”

Finally, when asked about how he felt about the 62,000+ fans’ impact on this result and if Mohun Bagan have an advantage to play at home for the final, he stated: “I’m proud of the supporters, and how connected they are with the team. That is very important for Mohun Bagan. Spectacular are for the players because 25% of the power that we need to win matches comes from the supporters.”  

“No (home advantage isn’t a thing), because I’ve played and won finals in Goa and Kerala and now we play one at home that will happen here. One day it might be good, but then it’s possible that home advantage does not work in our favor either,” he finished with a smile.

For more updates, follow Khel Now on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram.