Mumbai City FC are one sleep away before they kick off a
landmark 2023-24 season. A second consecutive appearance in the prestigious AFC
Champions League is upon us as the Islanders kick off their continental
campaign against Iran’s FC Nassaji Mazandaran tomorrow at the Shree Shiv
Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi, Pune with action kicking off at 7:30 PM
IST.
On the cusp of embarking on yet another historic AFC
Champions League campaign, Mumbai City FC Head Coach Des Buckingham and
goalkeeper Phurba Lachenpa attended a pre-match press conference ahead of their
first Group D fixture against the Iranian Hazfi Cup Champions.
Head Coach Des Buckingham, spoke about the Islanders’
previous AFC Champions League campaign highlighting the club’s sentiment around
it. He said, “We were slightly disappointed not to qualify for the next round
last season and rather than maybe what the perception was going into the ACL
last time. So, to change that narrative afterward was very positive and I think
it really showcased what Indian football can do on this stage.”
Buckingham went on to talk about how this season’s AFC
Champions League will be a unique experience, he said, “The tournament this
year is going to be very different, with a very different set of circumstances.
We were obviously based in Riyadh because of COVID-19 last season. This year we
go back to the traditional format of home and away. With that comes these
challenges and differences, but the one thing I'm looking forward to is just
trying to replicate the performances that we had in the Champions League last
year which put us in a strong position to get those results. We have experience
of the Champions League from last year as well as the football that we played
in the league last year as well. So, I think if we can combine those together
and if we prepare well, we'll put ourselves in the strongest position we can,
but it's the top level of Asian club competition so we must be on top of our
game to make sure we get everything out of every game.”
The Islanders’ number 1, Phurba Lachenpa, expressed his
thoughts ahead of the game with elation. Phurba said, “We are very excited as a
unit, and as a player, you always want to play against the best and play in the
best of the tournaments in Asia. So, it's an exciting and good opportunity for
us to showcase what we can do as a team.”
Lachenpa went on to talk about the importance of having
experience of playing in the AFC Champions League as he highlighted the
challenges the team might face this time around, he said, “It's always
challenging for us to do it because we are a top club, and we are not
representing only the city of Mumbai, we are representing India as a whole.
There's always pressure to do well but it's always up to us, on our mentality,
how we deal with it, and how we prepare against top teams in this competition,
so yeah, it depends on our mentality, how we take it and how we take all these
challenges and competition.