Mumbai: Mohammed Rafique seems to love the role of super sub. In 2010, he won the Durand Cup for United SC, coming in as a substitute. On Saturday, his header gave Atletico de Kolkata the inaugural Hero Indian Super League title.

“It’s something I never thought of in my wildest dreams. A goal in the final of the ISL… I am over the moon,” the 22-year-old from Sodepur said.

Son of a jute mill worker, Rafique was first spotted by United SC, with whom he was there till last season. This season, on Jose Ramirez Barreto’s advice, he switched to East Bengal.

“I worked hard in the training sessions here. I try to grasp whatever the coach (Jose Antonio Habas) says and do it on the pitch,” he said.

Rafique had a misunderstanding with the management when he flew to Bangalore to play in an office tournament without permissio. He was asked to showcause. “That was a minor thing. I did not realise it would become such a big issue. But I think now that I scored this goal, people will forget about that incident.”

According to Rafique, it’s the most important goal of his life. “Defintely, yes. It’s the ISL final after all. The whole world saw me scoring,” he said.

When Habas told him to warm-up, Rafique had told to himself he would give it his all. “I wanted to give my all in whatever match-time I get. Those 16 minutes were something like a make-or-break situation for me. I had a point to prove, and I am thankful to Allah for giving me this chance to prove myself,” the shy boy said.

Rafique has emerged from out of blue and vindicated Barreto. The Brazilian had spoken highly of him to Habas, and that’s one of the reasons why Rafique was picked by ATK from the players’ draft.