Mohun Bagan’s main problem was in central midfield, especially defensive medio. Rakesh Masih who is originally a stopper, has fitted in nicely in this position. Rakesh is playing very well and his combination with Marcos has stabilized the team’s midfield a lot. Read his full interview.

Question: Congrats Rakesh on Mohun Bagan’s 9th consecutive win in I-league and for winning Federation Cup.

 Rakesh: Thanks a lot. Yes I am happy that Mohun Bagan is performing well and pleased that I am contributing in my way to team’s success. Yes, Federation Cup win was indeed a special one, we did qualify for Asia Cup.

Question: Who was your coach before you went to TFA?

Rakesh: I am from Gurdaspur, Punjab. I was in Mahalpur Academy under coach Ali Hasan. Many players like Manjit Singh, Harmanjit Singh Khabra, etc. are all from this academy.

Question: You joined TFA in which year?

Rakesh: I joined TFA in 2005. Actually I joined a little late than others of my batch. I missed the trial organized by TFA. I came to know about this a little late. My coach asked TFA whether they can arrange another trial for me, TFA agreed and then I got selected. My uncle also helped me. He is a past player of Punjab Police, Darshan Masih. He did got a call from East Bengal in his playing days but did not go as he had to leave his job in Punjab Police.

Question: What will you do if you get a job offer?

Rakesh: (Laughing) Today only I got a job offer. I talked about this with Satya Da. I have not finally decided about it but most probably I will not take the offer. I want to be a full-time professional player and I think if I join office, I will not be able to concentrate fully on my career.

Question: How far did you study? You always wanted to be a footballer?

Rakesh: I studied till Class 12. Yes I always gave less importance to education, wanted to be a footballer from childhood.

Question: Who was your coach in TFA?

Rakesh: My coaches were Ranjan Chowdhury, Vijay Kumar, Carlton Chapman. All of them were great coaches. We learnt a lot in TFA, especially the basics.

Question: You played as a defender in TFA?

Rakesh: Actually I played in a lot of positions. Ranjan Sir used to keep me in defence, he had more faith in my ability as a defender whereas Chapman Sir did a lot of experiment with me. In some tournaments, where Chapman Sir was coach, he tried me as central midfielder, left half and even as a striker. I played more or less well in all positions. In Steel Tournament held in Jamshedpur, I played for Jamshedpur district as a striker and scored 5 goals from 4 matches. I can play in any position, all depends on coach of team, where he wants to use me.

Question: Any foreign tours you had?

Rakesh: Yes, I went to play in Srilanka for a friendly match of Under-20 Indian team and also toured Bangladesh as part of Under-23 Indian team. I went to England and also played in Wells cup from TFA, in the past Andre Shevchenko had played in the tournament.

Question: Your remarkable match while in TFA?

Rakesh: In Jamshedpur, we played a practice match against Mohun Bagan. We were trailing by 3-0 at lemon break. In 2nd half, we scored two goals but we eventually lost the match 3-2. Coach Carlos Perreira of Mohun Bagan praised us and was particularly happy with mine and Henry’s peformance.

Question: Heard you wanted to join Mohun Bagan after TFA.

Rakesh: Yes you are correct. After the practice match in Jamshedpur, I had made up my mind that I will join Mohun Bagan after talking to Jose Barreto. When we had a talk with Barreto, he told us about the club, how good the officials are and the overall environment and last but not least about the supporters. I also wanted to play with Baichung and Barreto.

Question: How many years agreement you have with Mohun Bagan?

Rakesh: All of the TFA players have 2 years agreement.

Question: Any difference of coaching while in TFA and under Kareem?

Rakesh: See the main difference is that TFA is an academy where we learnt the basics very nicely while in Mohun Bagan, we have to concentrate on winning trophies because that is very much required in top clubs. Here basics is taught as well as match situation, setpiece practice etc. Kareem Sir is an exceptional good coach, he gives a lot of stress to fitness, usually he does not want to play an unfit player unless he is fully fit. See the case of Branco. Coach gave him proper rest and will not use him until he is completely fit. He did not take any risk by playing an unfit player, it could have aggravated his injury further. Kareem Sir never distinguishes between senior and junior players, he gives importance to all players, whether he is part of first team or not. He does a lot of situation practice, the second goal for Mohun Bagan against Air India was a result of that. The way Ishfaq snatched the ball and made a down the middle run and gave pass to Barreto, coach had taught us such movements in practice. I am not taking anything away from Ishfaq’s run or Barreto’s finish, it was indeed a world class goal.

Another thing, in Kolkata, ground conditions are very heavy during Kolkata league and to continue playing well in all tournaments, we must have good fitness, I follow coach’s instruction regarding this. I have seen Barreto, Marcos, Baichung spending extra hours in gym after practice and it is due to their dedication that they are still playing so well.

Question: In Mohun Bagan you played both as defensive midfielder as well as stopper, which one do you prefer?

Rakesh: As I told u, I will play in whatever position coach will ask me to play. I am comfortable in both positions. Kareem Sir will take the final decision on team composition. Against Bayern, I played in stopper while against East Bengal, my first match under Kareem Sir, I played in midfield.

Question: Did you lose hope after the debacle in the initial phase of I league?

Rakesh: Actually, I knew one good match would change our fortune. After the away match loss against Sporting de Goa, we were demoralized. In team meeting after the match. Barreto and Baichung said to all of us that club officials are giving so much to us and did not blame any one of us for the defeat, so it is now time that we start playing as a team and start winning matches. In this context, I would like to tell you that, like every month we got our cheques in time in that month also when we were not performing well in I league. After draw against Air India, we even got our incentives of Kolkata league. The officials of Mohun Bagan are very professional.

Question: Do senior players motivate during match?

Rakesh: Yes, Baichung, Barreto and other seniors always help us and gives us advice during match. In Air india match, after we scored our 2nd goal, for last 15 minutes Air India was building up pressure, I was around center circle at that time, Baichung asked me to go back in defence. Sometimes, when we make mistakes during match, Barreto says to us "dal roti" (laughing) means cool down, simple play. I remember in Kolkata league, after losing 2 points in one match, Barreto called us next morning and we had a swimming sesion together, this really helped us to relax a lot.

Question: In midfield, do you like playing as defensive medio or you prefer attacking?

Rakesh: Actually every player wants to go and attack for scoring goals but if coach asks me not to overlap, I don’t do that. In the initial matches this year, Kareem Sir asked me not to go for attack much and to stay to consolidate defence but after arrival of Marcos, now sometimes he said that I can go and overlap, in that case Marcos stays back vice versa.

Question: Say something about Kolkata.

Rakesh: This is indeed a great city, so much love for football. In Punjab, hardly there was any crowd in the matches. Here stadium gets filled up. In Kolkata league also, most of the matches had packed galleries, it really helps us to perform well, motivates us to give our best. Definitely there is pressure while playing in Kolkata but I have no complaint regarding that as I do not have problem playing under pressure. My first two matches for Mohun Bagan were against Bayern Munich and East Bengal, both matches were big matches.

Question: What are your future plans? Any interest of giving trial for foreign clubs?

Rakesh: Till now, by God’s grace, I am having a successful career, I have always been selected in first team whether in TFA or Mohun Bagan. I will have to continue that. I have not decided about foreign clubs as of yet. First let me continue playing well for few years and then if offer comes I will decide.

Question: Indian senior team coach Bob Houghton has selected you, your reactions.

Rakesh: I am very proud that I have been selected. I will have to play well for India. He is a very good coach. In Hong Kong, I came as a substitute in place of Pradeep. I played with Climax Lawrence in midfield. The formation which Houghton used is same as what we play in Mohun Bagan and I played in the same position i.e. defensive medio. Previous to this, I have represented India in many under-age tournaments. So, in a way, this is not a new experience for me.

Question: Who is your ideal in Indian Football?

Rakesh: Mahesh Gawli. Once after India senior team performed badly, a decision was made to give chance to some juniors, I got chance and played with Mahesh, Pradeep etc. at that time.

Question: What about International Football and your favorite team?

Rakesh: I support Arsenal and Brazil and my favorite player is Kaka.

Question: AIFF might cut down number of foreigners in each team to 2 from next year, you welcome this?

Rakesh: Yes this will be good for Indian players as they will get more chance.

Question: Do you watch movies? Your favorite Actors?

Rakesh: Usually I watch sports channel most of the time but yes I do like to watch hindi movies. My favorite actors are Amir Khan and Kajol.

Question: How many brothers and sisters you have?

Rakesh: I have 3 elder sisters and 1 elder brother. As I told you, my house is in Gurdaspur, it is near Pakistan border, so there is little tension always. My family members are always updated about the matches of Mohun Bagan and they are happy with my performance. They tell me that I should not get carried away by my performance.

Question: The last question, do you think Mohun Bagan will be champion of I league?

Rakesh: Yes definitely we are one of the favorites to become champions. We have recovered nicely and will have to continue with our winning spree. Now we have a great team spirit and I hope that we will become champions, but still we will have to win 5-6 matches.

Thanks Rakesh and best of luck for the next matches.

Rakesh: Thank you.

INTERVIEW: Shiladitya Mitra and Nirmalya Maity

Mohun Bagan it seems is set to break all records this year as they are now in top of the I league table after winning their 9th consecutive match. Today they beat Sporting Clube de Goa in their home match by 1-0, goal being scored by Baichung Bhutia in 76th minute. Mohun Bagan had already created record by winning 7 matches in a trot, now they improved their record by winning their 9th match in a row.

Mohun Bagan lineup was the same as of last match against Air India and started the match in a positive note with Marcos giving a pass to Ishfaq who ran down the flank and delivering a cross which was a little wayward and James could not reach the ball. Sporting coach had said before the match that he will not man-mark either Barreto or Baichung but in reality we saw the opposite. We saw Sporting players continuously marking Barreto and oftentimes bringing him down. In the course of the match, three players of Sporting de Goa was booked for infringement. Sporting coach admitted after match that his main tactics was to cut the supply line of Mohun Bagan by marking Marcos and also not giving any free space to Barreto. In a way, they were slightly successful in doing so in first half but in 2nd half this did not work and Mohun Bagan got many chances to score. Barreto played exceptionally well with 1-2 Sporting players constantly marking him. Regarding tactics of Sporting, Kareem said, "Yes they were marking Marcos and so I asked him to stay more in opponent half, so that he can take one player away from Sporting’s attack as in first half they sacrificed one of their strikers who were busy with Marcos. I asked Rakesh to play from deep as Marcos was mostly in opponent half."

Coming back to the match, Wilton Gomes was shown yellow card within 5 minutes for foul on Barreto. In the next minute, Sporting made a nice move when Viviano got the ball at the edge of the box but his shot went over cross bar. In 15th minute, Mohun Bagan got the first chance when from a James center, Baichung headed the ball which Sporting defence failed to clear and Barreto suddenly got a loose ball and he promptly took a left footed shot which just grazed the post and stayed out. Sporting then dominated the match for about 15 minutes or so, Rakesh Masih and James Singh looked slightly off colored today. In this period, Sporting was easily moving the ball with not much resistance from Bagan midfield but defenders played well and averted danger time and again. In between, Nathaniel took a superb shot from about 25 yards out which Sangram dived to his left and made a great save. Mohun Bagan came back strongly and from a Marcos free kick, Masih almost scored but his head went over cross bar. In first half, Sporting were also successful in cutting down attacks of Mohun Bagan via both flanks as we did not see much of Ishfaq’s solo run. Just at the fag end of the half, referee made two controversial decisions. First time, Baichung headed the ball from James free kick which hit post and goalkeeper brought the back to play from inside goal, both referee and linesman overlooked the incident. Television replay clearly showed that the ball had gone in. In the very next minute, Odafe lobbed the ball towards Sporting goal and the latter’s defence went up to trap Barreto offside but Baichung, who was not in offside position, ran for the ball and got the ball in open but unfortunately linesman ruled him out offside. Certainly Barreto was offside but Baichung was not. The first half ended goalless with both teams playing well. Sporting really gave Mohun Bagan a run for their money in this half and fought nicely. Another thing which worked slightly in favor of Mohun Bagan was substitution of Luciano who had to be replaced by Micky Fernandes due to injury.

In 2nd half, Mohun Bagan was again unlucky this time as in 1st minute off a long throw from Odafe, the ball hit hand of a Sporting player but referee did not give penalty as he thought it might have been done unintentionally. In 55th minute, Mohun Bagan made a great move via Marcos and Barreto who played couple of passes amongst each other and final pass was given by Barreto to Marcos whose shot deflected for corner from close range. James Singh continued his poor form in 2nd half also and then Kareem made a double change within space of 5 minutes bringing on Lalkamal and Tulunga in place of Rakesh Masih and James Singh. This worked wonders for Mariners as within minutes, Barreto was involved in the best move of the match when he got the ball in midfield with 3 players surrounding him, he nicely dribbled the ball past all of them, shielded the ball nicely and delivered a inch-perfect cross for Baichung who could not head the ball properly. Junior then made a solo effort midway in the half when he took a blistering shot from outside box which Sangram again stretched himself to make another great save. Mohun Bagan was unlucky not to score in 74th minute when from a long throw of Odafe, Marcos back headed the ball and Habibur further deflected the ball off his head which hit crossbar and went straight to Baichung whose head was saved from goalline by Felip. Baichung, however, scored a brilliant goal within a couple of minutes. Lalkamal took a corner which was headed by Odafe in far corner, Barreto tried a bicycle kick but could not connect the ball properly, Baichung who was standing facing his own goal, suddenly turned almost 180 degrees and took a left footed shot which surprised Sporting goalie and went to the back of the net making it 1-0 in favor of Mariners. A great finish indeed from Mohun Bagan captain. Sporting pressed hard for goal in the last stages of the match and On one occasion Junior got a loose ball in box but his side volley went over crossbar. Odafe also made a mistake when he could not head the ball properly and the ballooned up and went straight to Sporting player inside Bagan box but his volley went out harmlessly. Mohun bagan finished the match winning 1-0. Overall the match was a keenly fought match with Sporting de Goa giving a great fight but at the end Mohun Bagan emerged winners and continued their golden run by registering their 9th successive win in this I-league. They now have 30 points from 14 matches and are leading the group table. Sporting de Goa are in 2nd position with 28 points from 13 matches.  Baichung was adjudged Man of the Match.

After the match, Sporting coach said, "We were unlucky but Mohun Bagan played well. I am not satisfied with refereeing, especially in 2nd half. He did not allow us to move, everytime he was blowing whistle against us. Mohun Bagan did not play that well like their last few matches, they were mainly relying on long balls, it reminded me of Kolkata team’s performance say a decade back when their style were mainly via long ball." When asked whether Baichung’s head had gone in, he said, "I was far away from the scene and did not see it properly", though surprisingly the incident happened in the half where Sporting reserve bench players were sitting. He still hopes of a comeback when he said, "There are still 7 matches left and we will have to play well to keep ourselves in the title race. Right now, Mohun Bagan, Sporting de Goa and Churchill are favorites to win the tournament but other teams can also bounce back soon."

Kareem looked a little relaxed when he said, "Before the match I had said to you all that this is not the match that will decide who will win I league because of 2 reasons. (1) I knew this match was very important for us, but being a coach my job is to take pressure away from players and I knew if I would have said otherwise, it would have created immense pressure on players by press and supporters. (2) Indeed I believe that though this match was important but not THE important match as now we have still 7 matches left and we will have to continue with the winning streak. I am happy that at least now we don’t have to look to other teams for losing points, now ball is in our court. If we win all the matches, we will be champions, no matter who loses or wins other matches. But still we have long way to go, it is like we have to still climb few more mountains and the trophy is hiding behind some mountain (laughing)." He added that he is very much satisfied with his defence and said for a team to win a trophy not only scoring goals but it is also very important that the team should not concede more goals. "You can see in major leagues throughout the world, it is not always the teams who score more goals wins the tournament but it is the team who wins by conceding less number of goals takes the trophy. In the last 6 matches, we have conceded just 3 goals. Just scoring 1 or 2 goals is not important. I know we will score goals but most important factor is not letting in goals", he said.  Kareem also praised his players’ commitment and admitted that wing play was not that good in this match, "Yes, delivery from the flanks were not up to mark today. I had a talk with James regarding this after match. It was just a off day for him. I am sure he will come back strongly. Both Lalkamal and Tulunga had a great game after they came as substitute, not taking anything away from Rakesh or James. I am very happy with overall spirit of the team. Deepak was complaining of pain in his knee in half time but he still wanted to play and played the full 90 minutes. Such is the commitment of Mohun Bagan players."
 
Mariners will get the weekend rest and on Monday there will be practice in morning as well as afternoon. In the morning, full team will practice but in the afternoon only the reserve bench players will be seen in action. On Tuesday, Mohun Bagan will play a practice match against George Telegraph where most of the first team players will not play and the match will be important for players who are recovering from injury like Vashan, Branco, Lalampuia. Kareem will assess their match fitness from this match.

TEAM: Sangram, Dipak, Odafe, Manju, Habibur, Ishfaq, Rakesh (Lalkamal 65′), Marcos, James Singh Sr. (Tulunga 60′), Barreto, Baichung (Lalramluaha 93′).

 PICTURE COURTESY: ARNAB DEY

 

Oh boy, where to start? First of all, Congratulations to Mohun Bagan and Jose Barreto who won the match the Mariners way and beat Air India 2-1! With 8th straight win – already a record created in the last match in I-League, Barreto continued scoring goals that let the Airmen leave the ground like pigeons!!! Bimal Ghosh, after going down to Bagan in the Federation Cup promised a win at Cooperage! Alas, Barreto was enough to keep him at the bay! The first half couldn’t end any better. A brilliant Barreto scored the equaliser just before the lemon break, and Baichung jumped into him with joy. And in the 68th minute Barreto took the match away from Air India with a brilliant world class goal. Though the goal was scored by Barreto, but whole team played as a unit.

With Mohun Bagan taking a cautious approach – trying to capture the midfield, Air India were rough and tough from the beginning – and ended the match with 10-men as Uttam Singh got a marching order! Air India scored in the 20th minute from a defensive lapse. Man of the Match Jose Barreto scored his first for the day at the 43rd minute and the winning goal was scored in the 68th minute.

The match was held in good pace with both teams attacking though Mohun Bagan enjoyed supremacy over Air India for better part of the match. Within 20 seconds of start, Marcos gave a long ball towards Ishfaq in left flank who ran with the ball and his cross was cleared by Air India defence for throw, Odafe’s long throw was headed out for safety. As usual, Air India’s dangerous moves were all via long throw from Uttam Singh which today was well cleared by Bagan defence though on a couple of occasions it had created a little panic in Mohun Bagan defence but Air India players headed the ball out. Of note, in practice coach Kareem had given tips and also practiced the defenders how to deal with those deadly long throws and it seemed those worked well. In 9th minute, Marcos took a free kick which curled and went straight to Baichung who headed the ball but missed target by a whisker. In 12th minute, Odafe headed the ball away for safety but from the loose ball Subhash Singh took a right footed shot from outside box that went over crossbar. In 15th minute, Baichung got past two players and tried to take a shot but it was well intercepted by Air India defence and from rebound Dipak’s shot went wide. Against run of play, Air India scored in 20th minute. The goal came as a result of a nice move which ended in Subhash Singh pushing the ball past Sangram inside goal with Bagan defence caught napping. After the goal for about 10 minutes, Air India dominated the game with brisk attack. Though in between in 25th minute, Baichung gave a through pass to Barreto which was cleared for corner. Marcos’ corner went straight to Masih who was in open space but his weak left footer went out of target. Air India played quite rough game today and their main target seemed to be Barreto. Mohun Bagan got two free-kicks in quick succession but Marcos’ free kick just went over bar though goalkeeper was beaten all ends up. Kareem then made a strategic change by switching flanks of James Singh and Ishfaq and that seemed to work well for Mohun Bagan. In 35th minute, Marcos took a shot from outside box which was dipping in but was brilliantly saved by goalkeeper. Mohun Bagan equalized in 43rd minute when Barreto headed the ball in from a well directed corner from James Singh.

Air India started the 2nd half in a positive way with few good moves, Sangram was slow to react in one move but somewhat averted danger. Air India continued with their rough football and two of their players Uttam Singh and Agnelo Picardo were cautioned for foul on James and Marcos respectively. In 52nd minute, from a Odafe long throw, Barreto back headed the ball but Masih was slow to react thus missing a chance to score. In 63rd mnute, Barreto got a pass from Baichung and his left footed shot narrowly missed target. Then it was Barreto magic again when in 68th minute, Ishfaq Ahmed had snatched a ball from Air India midfield and then ran into the rival territory and slowed his pace to draw a few Air India defenders around him. Then he gave a pass towards Barreto who took the ball inside box and from almost 0 degree angle took a right footed shot which beat goalkeeper and went into goal. This was a world class goal and such kind of finish are usually seen in International matches. After the goal, Air India brought in Emmanuel and tried to create some pressure but Habibur and Odafe made two great tackles to avert danger. In 80th minute, Emmanuel’s shot hit post with Sangram having no chance whatsoever. In the next minute itself, Tulunga’s, who came as a substitute for Ishfaq, center hit a Air India defender and hit cross bar, this time luck favored Air India team. Baichung was later replaced and Lalampuia came and combined few good moves with Barreto and once his shot from outside box was well saved by goalkeeper. In injury time, Uttam Singh was given marching order when he tripped James Singh from behind, Uttam Singh will miss Air India’s next match against East Bengal. Barreto was rightly adjudged Man of the Match.

After the match, Barreto said, "This win came as a result of team work. I am a striker and my job is to score goals, I am just doing that." Baichung looked a little cautious when he said, "We have to win all the remaining matches, especially the next match agaist Sporting is very important as if we beat them we will reach top of table which will be very important for us." Ishfaq from whose pass Barreto scored the winning goal humbly said, "I just gave the pass to Barreto, it was his brillint shot that resulted in goal." Coach Kareem gave credit to team work for this joy and said, "Every player is to be given credit for all our wins. Yes, Barreto and Baichung is special and asset to every team both on and off field and I am happy to have them in my team but all the players did their job."

 Bagan is now having 27 points from 13 matches and will face Sporting Clube de Goa next. A win will put Bagan at the top of the league table.

After the match we had a telephonic interview with our coach Kareem.

Q: Congrats again coach for another splendid win.

Kareem: Thanks, I hope it continues that way, also hope you supporters are proud of your team.

Q: Of course we are, sorry for disturbing you a little late in night.

Kareem: No problem, usually before and after the game, I can’t sleep irrespective of the result.

Q: Why is it so?

Kareem: Actually lot of things come into my mind and I cannot keep myself cool and get to sleep. I always think about my team and how to perform better and which combination will work best for team etc. Usually, after any match I think about both the positives and negatives from the match. I think about the negatives so as to find a way to rectify them for the next match.

Q: Are you happy about team’s performance?

Kareem: Yeah of course. This is our 8th consecutive win and second consecutive away match win. I am very happy with how team played. The most important thing is that, team is now full of confidence and we have to continue performing well in the remaining matches.

Q: Last match you gave instruction in half time to change style of play and play with short passes, did you do that today also?

Kareem: Not really, we played well today and we made quite a good moves during the match which resulted from short passes. Marcos took a brilliant shot which was well saved by their goalkeeper and there were a few other good moves during the match. In fact, we created more chances than Air India.

Q: Did you have special practice session to tackle Uttam Singh’s long throw?

Kareem: No, I usually do this before all matches. Before any match, during our practice, I instruct my second team to play like our next opponent eg. Before Air India match, I asked my reserve bench boys to play direct football like Air India do and whenever they got throw, I asked them to do it like Uttam will do. But as you know, guys like Suman or Lalramluah or others of 2nd team they cannot throw the ball like Odafe or Mohanraj, so I asked them to kick the ball from throw line instead as a situation practice to deal with Uttam Singh’s long throw.

Q: Why did you change Ishfaq after the 2nd goal?

Kareem: Actually he was complaining of a little sprain.

Q: Next sporting match.

Kareem: Yeah, right now, I am thinking match by match. Next 5 days I will think about Sporting de Goa team. We will have to continue with our winning streak.

Q: When is next practice session scheduled?

Kareem: Tomorrow we will reach Kolkata at around 10 pm, the reserve bench guys and the guys who came as a substitute like Tulunga, Lalampuia and Lalramluah will all practice at 3 pm tomorrow and full team will practice on Tuesday 3 pm. The reason for tomorrow’s practice is that, our reserve bench did not get much practice yesterday and also today, so if they go 3 days without practicising, it might cause problems with their fitness and I don’t want that. I want my full team’s fitness to be at the same level. Every player is an important member of the team.

Q: Congrats once again and thanks for talking.

Kareem: Welcome.