Abhra Mondal, at his residence, on Monday. A Telegraph picture

Calcutta: For East Bengal’s Abhra Mondal, the gloom is gone and the sun is shinning bright.

The humiliation of October 25 is a thing of the past for this young goalkeeper and it’s the time to bask in the glory of Federation Cup triumph.

As the soft spoken ’keeper was coming out of the Calcutta airport on Monday, some 100 odd red and gold fans, armed with placards, flags and high decibel slogans, lifted him on their shoulders.

Usually, for a young player this should give a kick. But Abhra has his feet firmly on the ground.

“It’s certainly a nice experience … to bring happiness to so many fans.

“But if you ask me, I would say that the days ahead, following this performance, will be harder than the ones which I had to go thorough after the October 25 Mohun Bagan match.

“I will have to keep the good work going as the people’s expectation have sky-rocketed and they will even be more critical if I falter,” Abhra said.

The ’keeper, however, rated his performance in the red and gold jersey against Mohun Bagan on February 27, 2007 higher than the Sunday show.

In that National League match, which East Bengal won 1-0, Abhra stood like a rock under the bar and denied one PC Lalawmpuiya his moment under the ‘light’.

That was, in fact, Abhra’s first brush with headlines.

“Oh! That match was better. I was just too good on that day,” Abhra was in a rewind mode.

Abhra said that the team’s gritty show in the Federation Cup increased his responsibilities and that, in turn, acted as a motivation in the final against Lajong FC.

“For us, the build-up to the tournament was dominated by adverse circumstances. Considering that, our team performed excellently.

“So, when the final went to the tie-breakers, I realised that it was on me to ensure that the team’s good work in the tournament doesn’t go to waste,” he recollected.

He also added that it was his coach, Phillippe de Ridder, who injected the final dose of confidence just before the penalty shootout. “He said that I was good enough to lead the team to victory and he had confidence in me. That helped,” he said.

But young ’keeper admitted that he didn’t expect the final to go into the tie-breakers and was not much prepared for it.

“With the team playing well, I thought that we would be able to wrap it up in regulation time. So, to be honest, I didn’t expect the penalty shootout.”

Recollecting his three saves during the tie-breaker, Abhra picked his second, off Lajong’s Samson Ramengmawia, as his best.

“The second one was the best,” he said.

Asked about the turning point for East Bengal in the tournament, he said: “The JCT match (which they won 1-0) was the toughest. We were one man down, that performance made us more confident.”

And what about accusations that he is nervous, which, more often than not brings about his downfall?

“Everyone is entitled to his opinion, but I don’t think that I’m nervous… Yes, there are areas which I need to work upon, but I’m not nervous.”

He, however, admitted that life of a goalkeeper is full of, in fact too many, crests and troughs. But then does he regret being a ’keeper? Abhra refutes: “You can’t say that. No one can guarantee success in life. I’m happy with what I’m doing.”

And that’s a typical reply of a goalkeeper who wouldn’t allow the opposition to slip one past him.