Durand Cup Derby Final Pre-Match Press Conference: Coach Panagiotis Dilmperis and Samir Zeljkovic Address the Media
Regarding the tight scheduling, Coach Panos expressed himself, " We are really disappointed with the schedule. It feels completely unfair to the team that finished first and performed best in the group stage. It is incredibly tough for both the coach and the players to play three games in six days, especially with difficult away travel in the middle. We didn't have a training session yesterday. We will head out for a session after, evaluate exactly how the players are doing, and then make our decisions. "He continued, " I want to emphasize that in these matches, mental preparation is the most important factor. It is all about how you prepare your mind and your mentality. That is exactly what we will be discussing with the players.
On comparing this game with previous encounters and the team's mindset, Coach Panos said," The first derby has nothing to do with the upcoming derby. The first one was at the beginning of the season. Now, both of the teams have more games. Different players have joined the roster. More Indian players for both teams and more foreign players for both teams are available. So, as a matter of fact, these are two different games."
"The first derby - if you win the next two games, you will qualify. Now it’s a game with a cup as a reward. Mentally, it's a totally different game. On the other hand, we cannot just skip the previous game. It was a win. We beat them, and we know that we can do it again. In 70 minutes, we were better than them, and I think that’s a sign that will give us confidence and the way that we can better approach the game tomorrow. Being a winner in the first derby gives you confidence!
On the team's attacking form and lack of goals in recent matches, Coach said," Let's start from the game against Protectors. The first game with Protectors was a game that we scored goals. Some players missed some chances, and we explained why. The second game was also at VYNK, and we created chances, clear chances! I will still remind you there were two chances of Dejan Drazic in open goal. There were three clear penalties that would seal the game earlier.
He continued, "And the third one [vs NEUFC] was a game in the water polo. I think most of you heard my speech to the players because they tried to convince themselves to transform in fighters. Sometimes, I know exactly where I am. I know the demands and the expectations of this club. And believe me, I want this club to play modern football more than anyone else. But sometimes also when the weather is like this, you cannot demand from the players to play football. We adjusted to the demands of the game. Hopefully, tomorrow we will play in a good pitch and we will come back to scoring and creating chances!"
On goalkeeper Vishal Kaith being the best in the country, coach Dilmperis praised him saying," Comparing with other keepers, because that's my exposition, he has some characteristics that you can find them hard in other goalkeepers especially in India."
On the importance of experience in a Kolkata Derby Final, Coach Panos emphasized," "Experience is very important for a game like this. To have this feeling and spirit and the air and the stadium full of fans and the pressure, we need to have a lot of experience. But experience is not enough! You need to have passion, be confident and find balance. You must not be arrogant but be humble instead. These are some of the qualities the players and the coaching staff should have.
On preparations and the start of the ISL season, Coach commented, " Let's talk about the importance of this tournament that we want to win and bring the cup back home. Mostly there is a certain schedule for the teams with eight or nine weeks where you can start developing four aspects. First of all - fitness, second - technical, third - tactical and the fourth -mental. So we need these preparations."
On injury updates (specifically regarding Alberto Rodriguez), Coach informed the media that the training session will reveal the condition.
On penalties and refereeing expectations for the Final, Coach Panos said," In the previous games, I knew that we are much much better than the other teams. We have the experience to have this process of penalties. Everybody says about Vishal, that's great, but nobody says that we didn't miss any penalty!
He continued," Finally, we are practicing penalties, we have to go to penalties as Mohun Bagan. Because in last two years, there was no penalty in a regular game. The final of Indian Durand Cup, the most historical tournament is very important for us. It's gonna make the highlights all around the world. It's an advertisement for the game. We are responsible tomorrow all of us. First of all the fans, second the officials, coaching staff, players, etc. but also referees. Referees should be there and play fair 50-50. Don't make us scream for penalties all the time that they don't whistle. " Samir Zeljkovic took over the mic to speak on His First Kolkata Derby Experience.
On playing his first Derby in the Final, he said, " Tomorrow it will be my first derby here. I am very happy and satisfied to be a part of the biggest game in Indian football. As I said, I came a little bit late with the team but everything goes well. I adapt very fast, I know a lot of players from last season. It was easy to adjust myself and I hope tomorrow we will present our team as best as we can and I hope tomorrow we will win this trophy. "
On adjusting to the team mid-tournament, he said," When I came after two days it was already game so I adjusted myself very fast. Also coaching staff and teammates helped me a lot and I hope as the time goes, as a team we will play better. Tomorrow is the first step to show us in the best shape. "
On facing familiar opponents like Dani Ramirez, he said," Dani is an amazing player. I know him from the last season. Tomorrow, we will play against each other and of course, he knows me well, I know him well. We will try our best for our own teams to be as best as we can. "
On East Bengal having an extra day of rest, Samir responded," You're right. They had one more day to recover and they didn't have this travel. But of course, for tomorrow game, we don't need excuse. We must perform as best as we can, try our best and as I said, we have only one goal tomorrow: To win this Durand Cup! "
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