“The “Never Say Die” Attitude of Army Triumphed” – Manish Wahi

Jamshedpur was chosen as one of the new host cities for the 133^rd IndianOil Durand Cup along with Shillong. The Steel City hosted the Group D comprising of home team Jamshedpur FC along with Chennaiyin FC, Indian Army FT and Assam Rifles FT. The battle for direct qualification went till the final group game where Jamshedpur FC took on Indian Army FT. The Red Miners were up 2-0 by the end up first half but a spirited Indian Army team made a comeback in the last twenty minutes to win the tie 2-3 and secure their place in the quarter finals.

Reflecting on the performance of the team making three wins out of three, head coach Manish Wahi said, “It is a very good feeling to qualify for the quarter finals that too defeating two ISL teams in the group stage. It does a lot for the confidence of the boys. They have put in a lot of hard work and this win is further going to boost their confidence.”

Trailing 2-0 till the 70^th minute of the game, it needed an inspiring effort to get back into the game and win it. Coach Wahi reflected on the character his side shown to win the game and said, “I think the Army Team has shown incredible character today being two goals down even though we were dominating the first half to a great extent. But coming from two goals down after the first half, and winning 2-3 at the end; that really shows that each and everyone in the team has shown a lot of character and never given up right till the final whistle”

“There were some tactical changes which we felt were needed after analyzing the first half. But, even in the first half we had retained enough of ball possession and moving the ball around however, we were not able to capitalize on certain chances. So, it was, in the end, the positivity and “never say die” attitude, which is the character of the team triumphed over the other team,” he further added. 

The Indian Army FT qualified for the quarter-final in the previous edition as well but lost out to NorthEast United FC and were not able to proceed to the semis. Speaking about the impact the qualification of an Armed Forces’ team makes, Coach Wahi said, “Qualifying back-to-back for the quarter finals is an important aspect for us. We are at a same position as the previous edition, and we would like to do much better this time around. The Durand Cup being co-organized by the Indian Armed Forces, an Army team progressing into the quarterfinals among all the other defense and para-military teams, that certainly is an impactful statement.”