Coach Shabbir Ali

Calcutta: On Sunday, Shabbir Ali’s trump cards, Mike Okoro and Theodore Sunday, skipped practice forcing the somewhat worried Mohammedan Sporting coach to label Mohun Bagan as the favourites. Ali had said: “On paper, they have a much stronger side with a lot more experience than my side.” Having beaten Bagan on Monday, a visibly delighted Ali said: “I am very happy with my boys’ performance…we did very well today (Monday) with our limited resources.”

The Mohammedan Sporting coach lauded his players’ energy levels and spirit. “Credit must go to the boys for playing so well on a muddy surface,” he said.

Defender Azim, goalkeeper Naseem Akhtar and midfielder Prasanta Chakraborty got special mention from Shabbir in the post-match press conference.

Man-of-the-Match Theodore Sunday, who left the ground on the shoulders of Mohammedan Sporting fans, was singled out by Shabbir for praise. “Theodore played with an injury; he played his heart out and I must give him credit for that.”

He said: “I am happy with my performance, but happier that my team won...It doesn’t matter how many goals I score as long as Mohammedan Sporting win…but it feels good to have scored in both the big matches”

A disappointed Karim Bencharifa, meanwhile, refused to blame Mohan Raj for his team’s loss. Bencharifa said: “It was an unexpected goal, but I don’t blame Mohan Raj or any other person for the goal. The team must collectively take responsibility for the goal, as several silly mistakes were committed before the ball was put in by Mohan.”

The Mohun Bagan coach remarked that with a little more experience, his team could have even won the match. He said: “As you can see, this is a very young side who invited unnecessary pressure on them… They weren’t prepared for the intensity of the game.”

Karim pointed out that a combination of bad luck and poor finishing led to the defeat. He said: “We were too deep and our forwards were totally isolated at times…but we must learn to take our chances.”

Right back Naveen Kumar, who had looked impressive in practice on Sunday and played well in patches on Monday, was mentioned by his coach as being one of the bright young talents of the Mohun Bagan team. Ahead of Mohun Bagan’s clash against arch-rivals East Bengal on August 5, Bencharifa sounded a warning for his young team.

“They will have to develop the courage and guts to play such important games…they must handle pressure better than they did today (Monday). Mohammedan Sporting’s goals came a little too easily,” he signed off.