Kibu Diamond Harbor ready to face East Bengal with the mantra of ‘Nothing is Impossible’
Sanchita Chatterjee, BS News Agency, Kolkata: Diamond Harbor, a four-year-old club. A surprising rise in this short time. Crossing the arena of Kolkata League, I-League and reaching the semi-finals of the Durand Cup. The biggest hurdle on the way to the final on Wednesday is East Bengal. They are extra strong after defeating their arch-rivals Mohun Bagan Super Giant in the quarter-finals in a dominant derby two days ago. That is why Diamond Harbor, trained by Kibu Vicuna, is not hunched over before facing East Bengal. On the contrary, despite being behind in strength and club history, the rest of the footballers of Kibu team including Joby Justin are ready to give a tough challenge to East Bengal.
After losing to Mohun Bagan in the group stage match, how difficult will it be to face East Bengal, another heavyweight team from Kolkata, in the semi-finals? Who will have a full house of supporters at Yuva Bharati. The question for Kibu was, what changes did Mohun Bagan make in the team and game after losing the match, so that it was possible to defeat Jamshedpur in the quarter-finals with a double goal scored by Sairutkimar at their ground? What strategy will they adopt to stop East Bengal?
Kibu's answer, 'I have no hesitation in admitting that playing against Mohun Bagan or East Bengal in Kolkata is the most difficult. Keeping that challenge in mind, my footballers will have to take to the field with the aim of defeating East Bengal in the semi-finals on Wednesday. In the match against Mohun Bagan, we made some mistakes in our game. Especially in the defense in conceding two goals. Even then, we were in the fight. But the referee's penalty and red card decision knocked us out of the fight. Before the Jamshedpur match, I emphasized on correcting the mistakes made against East Bengal. Along with this, I made some other adjustments in the team formation and style of play. We won in Jamshedpur too by playing in front of the opposing audience. My footballers will play against East Bengal with that mentality. Don't forget, we are the only team that has played against the most ISL teams and reached the semi-finals. After the Jamshedpur match, I told the footballers that you couldn't have given more than what you gave on the field. You can only improve from here, but don't do anything extra that will make it worse.'
Clayton Silveira is not available due to injury. So, to name the foreign footballers against East Bengal, Coach Kibu has defender Michel Cortazar and striker Luca Mazchen. Is it possible to beat a team like East Bengal with just two foreigners? Kibur replied, "Nothing is impossible in football. That's right, East Bengal is ahead by a wide margin. They have the entire quota of foreigners. At the same time, they have a bunch of famous Indian footballers. So it would be foolish not to respect them. Not only Miguel, Sol or other foreign footballers, but also the rest of the Indian footballers in the team, including Mahesh and Bipin, have played an important role in winning the Mohun Bagan match. That does not mean that we are defeated before we even enter the field. As I said earlier, there are many such examples in football, where a team that is behind on paper has snatched victory against a team that is ahead in strength through fighting spirit and intelligent play. Such an incident happened to me when I was coaching in the Polish league. So in this case too, the footballers will take to the field against East Bengal with the same mentality and make history in the Durand final.’
Jobbi Justin established himself in the Kolkata ground while playing in the red and yellow jersey. Later, injury problems took him away from the mainstream of Indian football. He is back in the limelight playing for Diamond Harbour. How optimistic are you about beating East Bengal in the semi-finals? What will you celebrate if you score a goal for Diamond Harbour against East Bengal? Jobi replied, ‘I earned all the fame and respect in Kolkata by playing for East Bengal. I know the power of the red and yellow. They are one of the best teams in the ISL. Their confidence has soared after beating Mohun Bagan and reaching the semi-finals. But that doesn’t mean we will go to the field from behind. We will not give up so much ground to beat them and reach the final by playing according to the coach’s instructions. I was in East Bengal for a while. But now I am a footballer for Diamond Harbour. If I score a spectacular goal with that professional mentality, then what I will do with my emotions at that moment, how much celebration I will get, it is not possible to say from now on.’
The media’s stinging question was, you were once the Mohun Bagan coach. Now you are the coach of Diamond Harbour. The wounds of the Durand Derby loss of the Mohun Bagan members and supporters can be healed, if you defeat East Bengal in the semi-finals. So will you appeal to the Mohun Bagan fans to shout for your team in the semi-finals? Kibur’s clear answer is that he can only request his own fans to come to the field more, not the fans of any other team. He wants to win the match by using his own strength, not by relying on others.