Marco Pezzaiuoli praises Bengaluru FC's resilience spirit on comeback win

With tonight's victory, BFC are one point behind fourth placed Kerala Blasters.

With a win against Odisha, Bengaluru FC have now reinstated their hopes for entering the playoffs. Marco Pezzaiuoli and his men regrouped and scored two goals to complete a comeback, after an early goal by the Juggernauts in the first half. After this win, Bengaluru FC head coach Marco Pezzaiuoli spoke at the post-match press conference.

Here are the excerpts from the same:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0mHfM05JEw

On the Lineup

First up, he was asked about the reasons for not having certain first-choice players in today's lineup. On this, he stated, "What do you mean by not first-choice? All the players that we had in our lineup were first-choice. I believe in my players and they trained very well. Everybody who came inside were first-choice. As for why I did it, we played just three days ago and I wanted some fresh legs in the team. Udanta (Singh) was out against Hyderabad, Prince (Ibara) was out last game and today it was Sunil (Chhetri).

"We also had more strikers on the bench. Yaya (Banana) had his first game after a three-month break and I didn't want any muscle injury because I usually protect players. So, when the game's three days later, it's enough to play 30 minutes and not risk injury. That's why I made this decision."

Thoughts on Odisha's Early Goal

Then, the tactician was asked about how he felt after conceding such an early goal via a defensive error. Answering this and praising his team for the resilience and commitment, he expressed, "I was not happy, of course. When you have a plan and concede (you aren't happy). We had ball possession, but we gave the opponents big chances to win the ball and create chances.

"We changed this later. I think the most important thing in this team is their spirit. We see it every time in our games because when we drop down or not win, we come back every time. This time, we won the game. This is great energy from the group who are doing this."

Importance of the Win

Further, the 53-year-old shared his thoughts on the importance of the win, considering BFC having just two more games after this.

He started, "We talked about this before -- we have four games, we lost one and now we won one. It's important. I told our players that it was important to look in the mirror and give it their best. So, when we won it was good because when you reflect and not win, you cannot be happy at the end of the season. We may or may not reach the top four, but when we look in the mirror we need to think that we gave our best this season. Maybe sometimes, we were unlucky, but we'll see that after the season."

"For now, I think let's enjoy the great win today 2-1 -- great goals, penalty and pressing in the second half, wherein Udanta won the ball. Also, I think, that one foul on Udanta must've been a red card. It was really clear that it (the tackle) wasn't going on the ball. The tackle was more than a foul. It was killing the legs and I think there must've been a different decision by the referee," Marco Pezzaiuoli added.

Sarthak Golui's Return

Lastly, Marco Pezzaiuoli shared a supportive message for Sarthak Golui, expressing happiness about the 24-year-old's return after two long months.

"I'm happy for him because it's not easy when there's a demise in the family. He had our support, but in the end, he was alone with his mother. Of course, he had a lot of energy and wanted to play earlier, but he was out for almost two months. I try to make him patient, enjoy life, football and training. Also, the team and staff members give him a lot of support and he feels well. He deserves to play and get minutes now and that's why I'm happy for him."

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