More articles by

Sarath Ramesh Kuniyl
Sarath Ramesh Kuniyl

FOOTBALL

AFC Cup final—night of reckoning for Bengaluru FC

Bengaluru-fc-pti Bengaluru FC players celebrate a goal | PTI

With the third edition of the Indian Super League hogging all the limelight, football fans got a pleasant surprise on October 19 when Bengaluru FC became the first Indian club to reach the finals of AFC Cup. That they did it by beating the defending champions Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) from Malaysia made the victory even sweeter. It is a monumental achievement for a club that is only a little over three years old.

As BFC gears up to take on Iraq's Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya in the final at the Sultan Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha, the excitement is palpable. Netizens have been working overtime to drum up support for the Indian club, which will be led by talismanic Indian striker Sunil Chhetri, who is the top scorer for the club with five goals. BFC will be without the services of regular goalkeeper Amrinder Singh, following a suspension. He will be replaced by 23-year-old Lalthuammawia Ralte, who was their first-choice keeper last year.

Mawia, as he is called, and his defenders—Rino Anto, Spaniard Juan Antonio, Englishman John Johnson and Nishu Kumar—will be up against the tournament's top scorer, Hammadi Ahmed. With 15 goals in 10 appearances—he has scored in every game he has started—the Iraqi striker will be determined to win his club the first AFC Cup. Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, however, will miss playmaker Bashar Resan and defender Samal Saeed due to suspension. With 37 trophies in its kitty, as opposed to BFC's three, the Iraqi club is the Goliath in the fight. 

But BFC coach Albert Roca—the former Barcelona assistant coach replaced former coach Ashley Westwood in July—will be hoping his team continues its brilliant run which saw it blow away the JDT 3-1 in the semifinal. He will be banking on young Indian internationals Alwyn George (or will it be the 20-year-old pacy Udanta Singh?) and Eugeneson Lyngdoh to keep a steady supply of crosses to the forward line of Chhetri and C.K. Vineeth. 

There will be no dearth of support for the visiting team in Doha, which has a sizeable expatriate Indian community. Not to mention, a contingent of West Block Blues, BFC’s passionate fan club. With wishes cutting across sports boundaries pouring in, the country is rooting for the Indian club. ISL team Atletico Kolkata summed it up beautifully in its Twitter message—United for Indian football we stand. 

Go, BFC. Bring home the AFC Cup.

Road to the finals

Group stage

· Bengaluru FC qualified for the AFC Cup after winning the 2014-2015 Federations Cup.

· They lost 2-1 to Lao Toyota, followed by a home defeat to eventual semifinalists, JDT.

· BFC won the next game 1-0 against Ayeyawady United of Myanmar. Skipper Chettri scored the winner.

· An easy 5-3 home win over Ayeyawady, thanks to a brace from George, was followed by another win at home against Lao Toyota. A third loss, again to JDT, notwithstanding, BFC qualified for the knockout stage with three wins and nine points from their six matches.

Round of 16

· BFC shocked Hong Kong’s Kitchee with a come-from-behind win. Chhetri scored twice in the 3-2 triumph.

· Coach Westwood was replaced by Roca.

Quarterfinal

· BFC defeated Singapore’s Tampines Rovers 1-0 at home, thanks to a Vineeth strike in the seventh minute, and held them 0-0 in the second leg and progressed to the semifinal 1-0 on aggregate.

Semifinal

· After drawing the first leg of the semifinals 1-1, BFC beat JDT 3-1 in the second leg at home, thus advancing to the final 4-2 on aggregate. Chhetri scored a brace—his second goal was a 30-yard stunner—while Juan Antonio headed in the third.

[With inputs from Maria J. Ponnezhath]

This browser settings will not support to add bookmarks programmatically. Please press Ctrl+D or change settings to bookmark this page.

Related Reading