BENGALURU: The I-League qualifiers, starting Thursday in West Bengal, mark the beginning of the 2020-21 Indian football season as well. Some strict protocols have been kept in place for the competition, which will be played behind closed doors. FC Bengaluru United , ARA FC, Garhwal FC, Bhawanipore FC and Mohammedan Sporting are the five teams.
Team which finishes top after five rounds will gain promotion to the I-League. Bengaluru United head coach Richard Hood spoke to The New Indian Express about their preparation, bio bubble challenges, conditioning levels among others ahead of the competition. They will face Bhawanipore FC in their opening game.
Football season is back, a huge relief...
It is a big relief for us and all of the teams involved along with the Federation to come together and bring through a successful competition. It is important that we see through this platform with utmost safety to bring confidence to all our stakeholders across the country in witnessing that it is now safe to start playing again if we are cautious.
Can you talk about the team's preparation for the qualifiers?
The club had consulted with medical experts to create a secure training base in the outskirts of the city at a singular campus that houses us in a hostel with our training ground and gym. The training was phased in the initial stages and we have had a thorough pre-season while following all norms that are now the new-normal.
What are challenges that players from all teams could face?
Conditioning levels will be a big factor and this will be seen in how the players cope with 90 minutes of football in a short period with a couple of games at peak noon. All the teams in this tournament come with complete understanding of what Kolkata climate is like and would have prepared accordingly.
However, the absence of regular practice games through the preparation period could hamper game rhythm. We will know soon enough.
With each team just plying four matches, how important is it to get going from the first game?
We are not going to the first game with any sort of calculations or heightened sense of priority, such tournaments are unpredictable and all we can do right now is narrow down our focus on what happens in the moment that we are engaged in and second by second in order to see through our games with successful performances.
What are the challenges of staying in a bio bubble?
We have more or less gotten used to it by now since our bio-bubble camp in Bangalore. However, we do miss our friends, family and loved ones who we have interacted with only over the phone the last few weeks. To return to them as champions is the only challenge we acknowledge and look forward to right now.