East Bengal, Mohammedan name on Mohun Bagan captain's lips after winning ISL league-shield
This year Mohun Bagan won the league-shield of ISL. After becoming the best of India, two neighboring clubs East Bengal and Mohammedan are mentioned in the mouth of green and maroon captain Subhashis Basu.
After winning the ISL league-shield at home, Mohun Bagan captain Shubashis Bose pulled the names of two neighboring clubs. He highlighted the success of not only his own club, but also East Bengal and Mohammedan. He said, this year is the golden time of Bengal football. All four trophies have come to Bengal. Another trophy to go. They want to win that too.
“We won the Durand Cup this season,” Subhashis said in an interview to the ISL website after defeating Mumbai City FC on Monday. This time I won the league-shield. East Bengal won the Super Cup. Mohammedan won the I-League. That is, all the trophies have come to Bengal this year. It is golden time in Bengali football. Hope Bengal football will improve from here. I am very happy for that.”
Mohun Bagan had no choice but to beat Mumbai to win the league-shield. So what pressure was more on them? In response, Shubashis said, “We had only one thing in mind, to win at any cost. I didn’t think about what happened before. Because we have no power to change the past. But the present can be changed. So I entered the field keeping in mind to win the team with my best.”
Mohun Bagan has managed to handle the pressure of playing in front of 50,000 spectators at home. Shubashis said that they played every match as a final. The Bagan skipper said, “Just as we were in a situation at the end of the Durand Cup where we had to win every knock-out match, we were in the same situation after losing against Chennai in the ISL. I took every match as a knock out. We enter the field in every match with that mentality. That’s why I won the shield. Today we played together as a whole team, defended together, attacked together. That’s why I was able to win the match.”
Antonio Lopez Habas took over the team midway through the season. Joined footballers like Johnny Cauco. Habas changed the face of the team. So Shubashis is giving him great credit for this victory. He said, “There are ups and downs in the season. We have many experienced players in our team. There are many to take responsibility. We also have strong character players in our team. I believed that everyone would turn around together. I always tried to motivate the team. And Habas has taken this team forward.”
The work is not finished yet. This time the semi-final is ahead. Mohun Bagan have a chance to win the League-Shield and the ISL trophy in the same season. They will be ready for that purpose. Shubashis said, “For the last eight-nine months, we have worked hard to get this title. That’s why I got this success. Now is our time to enjoy, celebrate success. We are also excited to win the knock out.
If we can win the next three games and win the cup, then there is no reason not to be excited. Fresh from this celebration, we will return to the field and play the final. Where we will destroy ourselves. We want to win another title.”
