It's back to the drawing board for BFC

As the Maziya S&RC players celebrated a famous victory at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Wednesday, the Bengaluru FC players crowded around Parag Shrivas, offering words of comfort. The youngster had missed the decisive penalty, but this loss was not on his shoulders.

Sunil Chhetri had twice dragged his team from the brink after coming off the bench. The plan was for the Indian captain, coming back to match-fitness after a hamstring strain, to play the final half-hour of the game. He ended up playing little over an hour. As he limped dejectedly into the team bus at the end of the night, perhaps it was more mental discomfort than physical.

“Football can be cruel sometimes... 120 minutes and then penalties. We have been in a lot of different situations during the game. Most of the time luck has been against us. But the team has been fighting, going for the goals, trying to get the win. But sometimes things don’t happen,” said coach Carles Cuadrat after the game.

That the club failed to reach the AFC Cup group stage, will sting. The continental tournament has always been kept above all else at the club. They had suffered when they failed to qualify for the event two seasons ago. They celebrated their return last season, perhaps more than winning the Indian Super League itself. Now, the Bengaluru side have to start all over again. After all, the right to play at the continental tournament has to be earned.

“Pressure is always there in football. The team has seen a lot of success, six titles in six years. But I trust my players. They never give up, they have a special character. So we are going to try and reach the ISL final and fight for the trophy again. It may happen, it may not happen. But we are going to fight.”

In a season where they have struggled to reach their exalted standards, the task is only becoming harder. The very fact that BFC have reached the semifinals is a testament to their character more than anything else, including their football.

They have struggled to score goals, few big names woefully out of form. The players, Raphael Augusto and Manuel Onwu, bought in to replace the mercurial talent that was Miku, missed half the season with injuries. Set-pieces have been their main source of goals.

But they remain organised and stingy in defence, save a few howlers and have found a way when it mattered more often than not. Dogged and hard nosed.

"It's been really unlucky that we have to do all the effort for not getting anything at the end. But we have to keep working and not give up. It is one of the characteristics of this club. We will fight," said Cuadrat.

They will have to.