While Bengaluru FC fans are soaking up their club's historic berth in the semi-finals of the AFC Cup, the result may seem to be a difficult one to digest for Indian Super League (ISL) franchise Mumbai City FC (MCFC)
Sunil Chhetri
Sunil Chhetri
While Bengaluru FC fans are soaking up their club's historic berth in the semi-finals of the AFC Cup, the result may seem to be a difficult one to digest for Indian Super League (ISL) franchise Mumbai City FC (MCFC).
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Due to the Blues' victory, the Ranbir Kapoor co-owned side, which is the worst hit by the development, are set to miss out on the services of star striker Sunil Chhetri along with his teammates Udanta Singh, goalkeeper Amrinder Singh and Lalchhuanmawai Fanai. Bengaluru play the first leg of the semis against defending champions Johor Darul Ta'zim on September 28th, with the second leg on October 19th.
Indranil Das
Meanwhile, MCFC, who finished sixth on the table last ISL season, will kick-start season 3 against FC Pune City on October 3 in an away game. India's talisman Chhetri, who recently orchestrated India's 4-1 rout against Puerto Rico in the international friendly, was expected to be form an important cog in the wheel for Mumbai.
However, MCFC CEO Indranil Das Blah said the club had foreseen such a scenario. He also refused to accept that Chhetri's exclusion would be a blow to the club. "Chhetri's late arrival is not a massive blow. We had planned for this eventuality. We looked at the permutations and combinations of this result. We have good strikers in Diego Forlan (marquee player) and Gaston Sangoy. For Udanta, we've got Jacki (Jackichand Singh) and for Amrinder we have Roberto (Roberto Volpato Neto). So we are fairly well covered," Blah told mid-day yesterday.
Chhetri led Mumbai City FC to their first win of the 2015 season. He scored seven goals to become the highest-scoring Indian in last year's ISL. What makes the matter also the more dreadful is that if BFC make it to the summit clash of the AFC Cup, then all the four players will be with the side till November 5.
"We had made this clear to the coach. He has been prepared for this. The way he has gone about his planning also has been according to the recent result," Blah added. Even after the four players arrive, there will take time to adjust to the new head coach Alexandre Henrique Borges Guimaraes. But Blah remains positive that the transition will be a smooth one.
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