There is something about the AFC Cup as it manages to bring the best out of Dempo.
The former I-League champions entered the pre-quarterfinals of the continental competition on Tuesday, beating Al Faisaly 3-1.
The credit for the string of good results in the AFC Cup goes to coach Armando Colaco who has built a team that can switch gears from national to international. “You must know how to switch between your performances in India and while playing in Asia. You play the AFC Champions League qualifiers, you lose that. That affects players’ morale, so you have to make him believe in his ability. Then you play the AFC Cup, the I-League — so much is happening at one time. My friends at Churchill please get used to all this quickly,” he said with a gentle laugh.
Sometimes he also feels sorry for his players sometimes. “I feel guilty at times. My players should have been vacationing like the other guys but we have to play the matches,” Armando said. Known for his man-management skills, Armando rues that the players haven’t got few days’ off to spend with their families.
Slamming the Asian Football Confederation for lack of proper planning, Armando said they should consider the fact that players do need time to recuperate. “We play football all over the year so the players get fatigued. Players sometimes are down morally because they get little time to spend with their families.”
The recent off the field news relating to their star striker Roberto Mendes da Silva (Beto) moving to East Bengal left his side a bit shaken. “We are a family. When someone suddenly takes away your family member, it leaves you shaken,” he said. “Subhas Bhowmick has been trying to poison Beto’s mind even when he was with Salgaocar. I spoke to Beto and convinced him to stay back.”
Speaking about the other team from Kolkata, Armando said Mohun Bagan dug their own graves by issuing the showcause notice to Baichung Bhutia. “Who on earth would issue a showcause notice to their players for missing training sessions? You can go and speak to him personally. What they did was crazy,” Armando said.
So would he like to sign Bhutia? “Sure, why not?” he said.
