'It was important that the team was patient' - Bengaluru's Marco Pezzaiuoli hails his team's resilience against Nepal Army

Bengaluru FC head coach Marco Pezzaiuoli hailed the patience of his side after they defeated Nepal's Tribhuvan Army FC 5-0 in a preliminary round two tie of the 2021 AFC Cup at the GMC stadium in Bambolim, Goa, on Wednesday evening.

There was no goal in the first half before a five-goal blitzkrieg at the start of the second saw Bengaluru home. Rahul Bheke (51', 65'), Sunil Chhetri (52') and Cleiton Silva (61', 65') got their names on the scoresheet. 

What Pezzaiuoli said

"It was very important that the team was patient. At half-time we played 0-0, we had some chances in the first half but we developed in the second half. The players showed a little bit of what we trained with and without the ball. A 100 per cent quality was missing with the last pass. But I think it's not the players' fault, we didn't have many training sessions as a team in these four weeks. We stayed more in quarantine (than in training)," expressed the German.

Bengaluru FC

"I think they know everything. Now it's (about) the details which will come only when you play more matches and have enough training sessions. The details, what they have shown, I think we will get better. It's a very high-intensity style of football. So you need more training," he added.

How did the youngsters fare?

Pezzaiuoli was particularly impressed with the performance of the second half substitutes and felt that the team played at a high level against the Nepalese side.

"I saw (Namgyal) Bhutia play well on the right side," observed Pezzaiuoli. "Roshan (Singh) playing at right-back was a new position for him - he played as a winger before. He closed his side well and he was using both feet. Dama (Damaitphang Lyngdoh) is a midfield player - for me, he's a small (Andres) Iniesta.

"He's good on the ball, doesn't lose possession and it's the first time for him (too) to get some experience at this level. Edmund (Lalrindika) worked very hard to create space by pressing high. It was a good game from all the players coming inside. The entire team's effort was high level in this game," stated the Bengaluru coach.

What next?

As Bengaluru await the winner of Abahani Dhaka Limited vs Club Eagles Maldives to know whom they face in their next AFC Cup play-off fixture, Pezzaiuoli maintained that his focus is also on building a better team for next season.

"Our training sessions have never been based on the opponents. We prepare on what we want to develop. The focus is on the next two weeks and because I don't work only for this group stage. I want to see a better team for the new season. Now for me, it's like a pre-season and I will take every minute with the team," he stated.