BENGALURU: The Indian Super League kicked off over the weekend in Bengaluru with scores of fans making their way to the Sree Kanteerava Stadium to cheer the men in blue. One of the reasons for the much-anticipated matches for fans of Bengaluru FC – who were reeling under shock after captain Sunil Chhetri announced his retirement from the national team – is Chhetri’s presence as he leads the blue crew.
A strict disciplinarian, Chhetri finds retirement from the Indian team to have calmed him to a great extent. “After retiring from the national team, I have taken a back seat. Not because of anything else but because there are so many good captains around me. Rahul [Shankar Bheke], and Gurpreet [Singh Sandhu] are great candidates. Gurpreet inspires everyone with his work ethic, Rahul has shown exactly what he can do,” says the proud captain.
The team also has quite a few new ‘promising’ signings this year, and it’s hard for Chhetri to pick one to look forward to. “If I have to choose a name, I would say look out for this boy – Lalremtluanga Fanai. He has been the best so far during training,” he says.
In 2018, an emotional Chettri urging fans with folded hands to support football went viral. Fast forward to now, the stadia are filled to capacity during matches. “One distinct difference from day one to now is the number of fans which has grown exponentially. I have been here for over a decade and know how much we mean to our fans. When we lose a match, we feel sad for the fans. That goes to show the bond we have,” he adds.
Australian footballer and BFC striker Ryan Williams agrees with Chhetri. “Football fans can vary but BFC fans are not that kind; they stick with us. In one of the matches against Mumbai, we were losing by 4-0 and people were still cheering and singing our praises, trying to keep our spirits high. We have a family environment of sorts. It feels like all of us are together in this,” says Williams, who is looking forward to winning more games this season.
Despite a strong lineup, the team’s last ISL win was in 2019. However, there has been an instance after that when the team has been in the finals but has not been able to bag the trophy. The national team’s captain and goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu is hoping to break the jinx this time. “It’s been a while since we won the ISL. We came close two years ago when we went to the finals. We are very hungry for that moment and we want to show that conviction to leave all the teams behind to get that trophy,” says Sandhu.
BFC’s head coach Gerard Zaragoza Mulet joined the team last season. Sandhu confirms that there won’t be much change in style. “Our coach Gerard joined us in the middle of last season, so obviously there was a change in style but not too much; we worked on how we want to play this season. We tried and tested ourselves in the pre-season tournament during the Durand Cup against teams like Mohun Bagan and Kerala Blasters. So the training has been good,” he says.
Sandhu is particularly looking forward to playing against Mohun Bagan Supergiant this ISL. “One of the teams that has the potential is Mohun Bagan. I see them as a very strong competitor. I want to play against them and win! In the last few matches against them, we have not done that well. There have been moments when we were doing well against them but in the last minute, they have managed to take the game away. We’re hoping to break that jinx this time,” says an optimistic Sandhu.