We'll soon see Parthib in national team, says Juan Pedro Benali

NorthEast United boss Juan Pedro Benali also revealed his post-game message to the players.

NorthEast United‘s playoff hopes were shattered by Chennaiyin FC on Tuesday evening. The Highlanders dropped points from a winning position yet again as they were handed a 2-1 defeat by the Marina Machans.

Jithin MS opened the scoring for the away side early in the second half before Aakash Sangwan became the first Indian to score an olympic goal to bring things back on level terms. Finally, Ankit Mukherjee scored the winning goal in the 91st minute to keep Chennaiyin FC’s playoff aspirations alive.

After the game, NorthEast United’s head coach Juan Pedro Benali addressed the media and shared his thoughts.

Thoughts on the game

Sharing his thoughts on the game, the head coach said that it was a beautiful game as both sides went for the win. “My feeling is, I think the fans, everybody on TV and here in the stadium, it’s a very nice game. Not so nice for the coaches, you know, because the ball was going up and down, up and down. We prefer the games to be more calm, but it was a beautiful game, it was like a final. We spoke before the game, we don’t want to draw. And even with the coach before the game, we were laughing about it. Either he wins or I win. We don’t want to draw.”

He also congratulated Chennaiyin FC for the win and said that he is very proud of his players and is looking forward to the next season.

“Both teams went for the win. Congratulations to Chennaiyin FC. They deserved it. And I hope they will do very well in the playoffs. For us, keep working, head up, proud of the players and look forward for next season and the game against Odisha,” he added. 

Message to the players

When asked about what was his message to the boys in the dressing room after the defeat, Juan Pedro Banali said, “(I told them) to be proud of what they did. In football you win, you draw or you lose. Sometimes football is unfair. We’re still doing some mistakes, but this is football. If there are no mistakes, there will be no goals. Proud, proud and head up, work, finish the game against Odisha. That’s the most important thing for us.”

Thoughts on Parthib Gogoi

The 55-year-old opened up about his thoughts on Parthib Gogoi and said that forward is a very important part of the team and the club will make the team around him moving forward.

“Parthib is a very, very important piece in this team. He’s the son of the club and we’ll make the team around him. I think he’s the present of Northeast. And we’ll see him very soon in the national team. I will see him very soon at the start,” he asserted.

National team selection

Juan Pedro Benali was also quizzed on whether more players from his team should be considered for the national team. He said that he cannot say anything because the national team coach has his own vision and thought process.

“I’m not the national team coach. Each coach has his vision and way of thinking. As I said, for us, it’s important not to see the nationality. The one who’s ready to play, he will play. He’s Indian, Spanish, Moroccan, or from wherever he wants to be. Parthib was ready. We played Manvir against Kerala, we knew how we could hurt them. He’s a very good player, a player who works a lot, fights a lot, and that’s what we were looking for in the first half and it worked.”

The mentor also added that the national team coach should travel across the country to watch the players and should also speak to the coaches. 

“But it’s the national team coach, who needs to look at those players and travel all over India to watch the games live, to go to speak with the coaches, to see the trainings, that’s his job, he knows how he will do it. I’m not the one who’s going to tell him. I think he’s doing his job traveling all over, watching all the games,” he signed off.

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.