Former India captain and Mohun Bagan player Abdul Majeed Kakroo never misses a football match in Srinagar. So on Sunday he was at the Tourist Recreation Centre ground to watch Real Kashmir FC play his favourite Bagan.
And the man was very impressed by what he saw. “It’s a great performance by Mohun Bagan. They were fantastic. Mohun Bagan’s No. 10 (Joseba Beitia) made the difference. I will not be surprised if this Bagan team go on to win the title,” he told The Telegraph.
Later, Bagan coach Kibu Vicuna told an interesting tale about Joseba Beitia.
“He complained about the new pair of boots he got from Spain. I told him you score a goal and I give two new pair of boots. After the match he came up to me and told me ‘coach don’t forget about your promise. Two new pair of boots’”, Vicuna said.
Vicuna however refused to believe that Sunday was Bagan’s best performance this season. “We played our game. They played a physical game. But this wasn’t our best match. We played better against Churchill but we lost. We prepared well for this match and the players delivered,” he said.
Vicuna now wants consistency from his players. “I am very happy with the performance. Real Kashmir are a difficult team to beat since they can create chances from various situations. It is difficult to play in this cold. But if you want to become of champions of India then you must win in every condition. Today will have a good sleep. And tomorrow onwards our focus will be on Indian Arrows whom we host on Thursday.”