Football

Miracle man Khalid on the brink of history as NorthEast United take on Kerala Blasters

Martin Joseph

KOCHI: Khalid Jamil's legacy in Indian football was set in stone when he led minnows Aizawl FC to the 2016-17 I-League title ahead of heavyweights like Mohun Bagan, Bengaluru FC and East Bengal.
However, the 43-year-old is scripting a similar fairytale with NorthEast United and this could create bigger ripples in Indian football since the Indian Super League is a bigger playing ground.

The former India international was brought in on an interim basis after the departure of Gerard Nus and it was in a likelihood expected to be a damage limitation job until the end of the season. They were winless in six matches and stuck in a rut when he was given the job.

What Jamil went onto do was lead the Highlanders on an extraordinary run to get them to within touching distance of the play-offs.

They just need a point against Kerala Blasters on Friday to secure qualification and given that the team has been unbeaten under Jamil, it looks a mere formality.

If NorthEast does cross the line, Jamil would be breaking a glass ceiling for Indian coaches in the ISL. The clubs in the league have been employing foreign coaches and Indian tacticians have been restricted to bit-part roles. But he would become the first Indian coach to lead a side to the ISL play-offs if he gets even a point against the yellow brigade.

While the job is not done yet and it remains to be seen how far they can go in the play-offs, it would be a surprise if Khalid doesn't land the job on a full-time basis next season.
The young coach however has his full focus on the game against Blasters.

"We are not thinking about anything else. The preparations are the same. There are no changes in anything. The idea is to go there and give your best and have to be ready in all aspects," said Khalid.

Interestingly, even Kerala Blasters currently have an interim Indian coach in the form of Ishfaq Ahmed. The former Kerala Blasters assistant coach managed to hold Chennaiyin to a draw in his first game in charge, but this will be a different challenge altogether.

"For us, we definitely want to win. They want to win. They have a little bit of extra pressure. For us, it’s another opportunity to sign off from the league on a high. We are not thinking about what they want. We are thinking about us and what we have to do, said Ishfaq."

Khalid does not want to take the Blasters lightly as they are a team who create plenty of goalscoring opportunities and can hurt teams.

"Kerala Blasters are a good team. They have talented players and so we will have to prepare. It will be a difficult game. We shouldn’t take this match lightly. We must fight," he said.
If NorthEast manage to qualify, it will only be their second appearance in the play-offs and they can dare to dream like Aizawl did. 

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