Carles Cuadrat: Suresh Singh Wangjam is doing a wonderful job

The Bengaluru FC head coach also revealed that he thinks the youngster will soon find an opportunity with the national team.

Bengaluru FC will be going into the second leg of their Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) semi-final clash against ATK FC in Kolkata with a slender advantage, courtesy a 1-0 first leg win at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday. It was a clinical defensive display by the Blues on the night, with the only downside being Nishu Kumar's late red card. Deshorn Brown scored the winner for the defending champions in the first half. Following the game, Bengaluru FC head coach Carles Cuadrat interacted in the post-match press conference.

At the post-match press conference, Bengaluru head coach Carles Cuadrat praised his players and stated, “I think the guys showed big heart. It is one of those seasons where a lot of things are not happening for us. But against a top team, the guys got a result which is difficult to get. ATK were fresh. We have played double the number of games they had played in February.”

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“My players are giving everything for the club and the team. They are doing whatever I am asking them to do on the pitch. It was very nice that Sunil (Chhetri) came to celebrate the goal with me because it shows that he is really happy with how we are doing things,” he added.

The Spaniard then lauded the performance of youngster Suresh Wangjam and said, “He is giving us a lot. I asked him yesterday if he feels ready to start the game because he was playing 120 minutes in the AFC Cup game. But he told me that he was ready to help us. He has been helping us a lot. He is doing a wonderful job. He was creating chances in attack and helping in defence. He is having an impressive season. I am sure that he will soon have an opportunity in the national team as well.”

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Cuadrat also explained the reason why Ashique Kuruniyan and Udanta Singh were not included in the starting XI. “Ashique and Udanta are my players and I will support them. I am ready to help them. They are wonderful professionals. But at his moment, I have to take decisions. Because of the work of the other guys are doing, I try to pick my best XI for specific games. I have a lot of confidence in them. They are my players. I hope that they can make the impact in the next leg and in the final, if we arrive to the final,” said Cuadrat.

Looking ahead to the second leg, the Blues head coach concluded, “We got a good result, but nothing is done. 90 minutes in Kolkata are left. It is going to be really hard work to get a result. But we will try to get the players fresh. We will do our job to try and reach the final.”