Bengaluru FC players reacts after Federation Cup triumph in Cuttack

The Blues needed to win the Federation Cup to boost up their morale and perform strongly in the remaining AFC Cup games. . .

Bengaluru FC endured a disappointing season in the I-League this year. But, the Blues managed to salvage their domestic season by winning the Federation after a narrow win against Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan.

After the Blues’ second Federation Cup triumph, Khel Now received some delighted reactions from players and the manager.

“The last ten days had been so difficult knowing I wouldn’t be able to help the team on the pitch," said BFC skipper Sunil Chhetri who was unable to play in the Final after picking up a muscle injury in the semi-final against Aizawl FC. “But not for once did I doubt that the boys would get the job done when it mattered the most,” he said.

The passion he has for Bengaluru FC shows why the West Block Blues love him

He also added, “I sat in the stands for the Final in two capacities – one as a Bengaluru FC player and the second, as a fan of this club.”

Eugeneson Lyngdoh was another player who seemed delighted answering the questions as he revealed, “We’ve made it a habit of winning one trophy a season at this club and we told ourselves that we have to keep that going.” “Not winning the league this year also meant that if we were to play in Asia next season, we had to turn up and deliver against Bagan on Sunday,” he further added.

Lyngdoh was the most important player in Bengaluru's midfield in the absence of Cameron Watson

Amrinder Singh was the unsung hero of last night when Bengaluru FC defeated Mohun Bagan in extra-time. The experienced goalkeeper stood watch of the Bengaluru bars and denied Bagan forwards several times in the match. “I kept telling myself in the build-up to this Final that I’m not letting Bagan take this away from us. We had battled hard to get to the Final and I was willing to do everything it takes to bring the cup back to Bengaluru,” he said.

Bengaluru finally broke Bagan’s deadlock in the second half of the extra time with a strike from CK Vineeth, only to double the lead in the second last minute of the match. "It’s been a strange few days for me but I kept every distraction aside and focused only on this big chance that we had to bring home a trophy. We were the better team in every position on the pitch and I’m very happy that I could finish things off with two goals,” he said.

Manager Albert Roca was also very happy talking about his first trophy with the club, “We had a plan and we were able to follow it. Our objective was to stop any attacks, play counter-attacking football and create as many chances as possible and I think it worked perfectly,” he said.

Roca was asked about the two goals which were disallowed in the match when he answered, “The first goal was probably offside, but the second scored by Juanan was a goal and we were disappointed with the decision.”

Albert Roca celebrating with the trophy and his words prove that they mean a lot

Roca also praised his defenders who successfully kept the Bagan strikers at bay, “A lot of credit should be given to our defenders who were able to close their players down and ensure we kept away any danger.”

[KH_RELATED_NEWS title="Related News"][/KH_RELATED_NEWS]

Despite the Federation Cup win, Bengaluru now face a survival race in the AFC Cup against Maldivian side Maziya S&RC on 31st May. When asked about it, Roca answered, “We are confident that we can get the job done. We will be playing at home, that gives us an advantage and we will do everything we can to go through to the next round of the tournament.”