“People in India Love the Durand Cup” – Punjab FC’s Head Coach Panagiotis Dilmperis

After two successful seasons with Staikos Vergetis, Punjab FC parted ways with the Greek tactician this summer and brought in another Greek strategist in Panagiotis Dilmperis to lead The Shers in the upcoming season. The club has also made quite a few changes in their roster and already have registered their first ever win in the Durand Cup when they defeated CISF Protectors in Kolkata.

Coach Dilmperis spoke about his move to India and said, “There were three basic reasons which helped me make this decision – firstly, I love new challenges in my life. Secondly, I want to keep changing my working environment occasionally. And finally, Punjab FC’s football director Nikolaos Topoliatisdescribed the level of Indian football, the professionalism and the culture of the club and that made me make my decision to come here.”

In his first assignment as the Head Coach of Punjab FC, Dilmperis is leading his side in the 133^rd edition of the IndianOil Durand Cup. Speaking about Asia’s oldest tournament, he said, “We can already see that the Durand Cup is such an historical tournament and people around the country love it. It is a great competition with ISL clubs, I-League clubs and army teams as well. It is a great opportunity for the teams of the lower division as it gives the talents to come forward and that helps us see those players. It provides a platform for those clubs to play against ISL sides and at the same time, we can see how our players remain focused, concentrated throughout the matches. “

He then put emphasis on the Durand Cup’s role as the official kick starter of the Indian footballing season and said, “As I said, the Durand Cup is a vital part of Indian Football, and we wanted to field our first team for the tournament. We want to transfer to our players the new tactical ideas and habits. At the same time, we are being careful with not pushing the players too much. The tournament helps us with a great opportunity to check our players in official games before the long season ahead.”

Punjab FC, in their first game of the 133^rd IndianOil Durand Cup made history and registered their first ever win of the tournament defeating CISF Protectors 3-0. They then went on to play a 1-1 draw against ISL counterpart Kerala Blasters FC. “We had different tactical targets for both the games, in the first one, we tried a way of attacking as well as some defensive traps. Whereas, in the second game, we focused more on defending along with offensive transitions. In both the games, our players responded really well not just with the results but in terms of executing the plans as they train with an open mind and accept all the information we share,” he said while elaborating on his team’s performance so far. 

Punjab FC will now face Mumbai City FC on 11^th of February at the Kishore Bharati Krirangan and will hope for a win to confirm their berth in the quarterfinals of the 133^rd edition of the Durand Cup. 

All the matches of the 133^rd IndianOil Durand Cup are being broadcasted live on Sony Sports Network (SSN) and live-streamed on the SonyLiv OTT platform.