Ten-man Pune FC overcame Dempo SC 2-1 in a crucial I-League Round-17 encounter at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda on Saturday.
Speaking at the post-match Press Conference, Pune FC Coach Karim Bencherifa highlighted the importance of the win while also discussing the team’s performance in the game.
Talking about the game, he said, “I would not say awesome game, but awesome victory. I am aware that we play much better than that. But the state of mind we were in after the last game, and the number youngsters we had, we had a big hit in the confidence level. Add to that the fact we had a few players in the game playing after a long time. The weather in Goa is gruelling and the ground is huge. Even we weren’t happy with the grass which wasn’t cut level and it was dry so we found it difficult to pass. But as I said, sometimes we play good and drop points. Today, we did play well and were also dominated at times, but we got those all important three points.”
Speaking about the number of miss-passes, he added, “It’s understandable. Sometimes the conditions don’t help the way you want to play. Sometimes we play good and we lose and get criticised. And sometimes you are appreciated, but the result is crucial.”
Giving his views about the upcoming games he said, “We are playing two crucial matches at home against Bengaluru FC and Mohun Bagan. These are the kind of games that you cannot predict. But I can promise that with whatever players we have available, given that we will be missing a few players through injuries and suspensions, we will give it our best shot and work really hard to get good results in these games.”
