Started coaching career at just 16, meet Kibu Vicuna, the man behind Diamond Harbour's underdog fairytale in Durand Cup 2025

Debutants Diamond Harbour FC stunned the world by making it to the final of Durand Cup 2025, beating heavyweights Jamshedpur FC and East Bengal FC along the way. As they were playing this historic tournament for the first time, not many expected them to make it to the knockouts, let alone the big final. However, if you tracked their progress over the last 12 months and dug deep into coach Kibu Vicuna's history, this wouldn't have come entirely as a shock to you. To followers of Indian football, the Spaniard popularly known for his stint in 2019-20 with Mohun Bagan, leading them to the I-League title that season.

The stupendous success saw Vicuna gain a promotion in his coaching career, courtesy an ISL contract with the Kerala Blasters. However, that stint didn't go to plan as the Blasters endured a horrible season, finishing second from the bottom on the points table with just three wins from 20 matches. Vicuna didn't last the whole season and was sacked once the club's chances of knockout qualification ended, putting a sour climax to a not-so-memorable time with the Blasters. However, that season was also the time that COVID19 pandemic hit the world and hence, it was a difficult time for everyone involved with Vicuna being the scapegoat.

At the age of 16, when football is usually taken as a playing career than a coaching career, Vicuna chose the latter. He loved to dig deep into the game's finer details and achieved major coaching titles from the Spanish Football Federation. Amongst the plethora of titles, Professor of Tactics and Master of Physical Preparation stood out.

Vicuna's first major coaching stint came in 2002 at the age of 30 with the La Liga where was part of Osasuna's coaching setup as an assistant coach. Osasuna's manager at the time, veteran Jan Urban had a great rapport with Vicuna and took him around the world to whichever teams he managed. The key stint they had together was at the Polish club Legia Warzawa, a side that even played European football.

Vicuna's history with Diamond Harbour is that of a teacher with his first-ever student. DHFC was formed in 2020 but it was only in 2022 that they were active professionally on a constant level. Vicuna joined as the club's first-ever coach and the success stories were instant for the club and coach.

Initially, Diamond Harbour FC was part of Calcutta Football League (CFL), which was basically tier-3 of the state's footballing hierarchy. In 2023, DHFC got the opportunity to participate in I-League 2 thanks to their outstanding performance in I-League 3 where they won the league. The story was pretty much the same in the 2024-25 I-League 2 season as DHFC once again stole the show with championship glory, earning a promotion to the top-tier of I-League for the 2025-26 season. This also how they earned qualification for the fabled Durand Cup.

Armed with a talented squad bred with the never-say-die attitude, Vicuna operates with the 4-3-3 formation, relying on maintaing a solid shape and pace through the wings. Their dynamic quality and ability to switch from attack to defence and vice versa is what stunned even the strongest sides in Durand Cup 2025, like Jamshedpur FC and East Bengal FC. That these two wins were in the quarterfinal and semifinal respectively shows that Vicuna's side have massive big match temperament in them despite being a rookie club.

At the forefront of DHFC's on-field success has been the Slovenian Luca Majcen who has been phenomenal with his performances. Alongside Joby Justin and Halicharan Narzary, the trio have caused havoc in opposition defences with their versatility. The summit clash pits Diamond Harbour FC against defending champions North East United FC who are hunting for back-to-back titles.

Having downed two giants en route to the finale, can Vicuna's underdog army make it a memorable hat-trick of upsets? The task does look monumental for them, but so it did before the quarterfinal and semifinal as well. The one thing we know by now about DHFC and Vicuna is that they aren't going to go down with a proper fight.

Whether August 23, 2025 will be another massive day in the Vicuna-DHFC story, only time will tell. But, the bond is here to stay for a long while.