I-League football: BFC holds the aces

January 17, 2015 12:10 am | Updated 12:10 am IST - Bengaluru:

Bengaluru: Dempo SC captain Clifford Miranda and Bengaluru FC Captain Sunil Chhetri pose with the Hero I-League trophy during a press conference in Begaluru on Friday. PTI Photo(PTI1_16_2015_000112B)

Bengaluru: Dempo SC captain Clifford Miranda and Bengaluru FC Captain Sunil Chhetri pose with the Hero I-League trophy during a press conference in Begaluru on Friday. PTI Photo(PTI1_16_2015_000112B)

The word ‘fortress’ springs up from various spots in the Sree Kanteerava Stadium. As Bengaluru Football Club (BFC), a one-year old entity that remarkably sports the gait of a strong adult, gears up for the I-League season opener against Dempo SC here on Saturday night, the team’s confidence cannot be pooh-poohed.

The stickers and the banners may be part of the hype but there is no denying BFC’s halo that was born with its I-League title last year and got further embellished through its recent Federation Cup triumph. Incidentally, that victory came against Dempo in the final at Margao.

The defending champion’s coach Ashley Westwood however refused to peer into the past. “Its all history,” he said and added: “It is all about the match now. We will play to win.”

It was a sentiment that captain Sunil Chhetri reiterated and if he can replicate his goal-scoring ways — last season he slotted 14 — BFC will be well served. Stationed in the left-wing, Chhetri spoke about ‘accommodating’ the new role and said: “As long as I score goals, it doesn’t matter where it comes from.”

But sport is never easy and BFC does have a headache as its ‘marquee’ player Josh Walker is injured.

“He has done his hamstring in the last game and we will do a fitness test and then take a call,” Westwood said.

Comparatively minor

But BFC’s problem seems minor when compared to Dempo’s woes. Its coach Arthur Papas reported sick and could not turn up for the pre-match press conference and when queried about his players’ fitness, captain Clifford Miranda revealed: “I am not sure if I will play.” Miranda also mentioned that Haroon Amiri and Tolgay Ozbey are injured.

Dempo, with three titles in the I-League, the highest for any team, has a chequered history but seems to have run into a wall while facing BFC. The Goan outfit lost both its games last season and then succumbed in the Federation Cup final, a clash marred by Rowilson Rodrigues’ terrible tackle on Thoi Singh. Rodrigues’effort evoked censure from both his team Dempo and BFC and he stands suspended from Saturday’s clash.

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