Mumbai City FC head coach Des Buckingham believes that Indian Super League clubs can continue doing well at the top level in Asia. He also highlights how Indian football is taking giant strides in development. The Islanders were sensational in their recently concluded AFC Champions League campaign as they won two matches and finished second in the group that had strong West Asian teams.
It was a great achievement considering they were only the second Indian club to participate in the tournament and also managed to win two matches and finish with seven points from six matches. “There was FC Goa who came in before us and picked up three draws, we came in and picked up two wins and a draw to give us seven points. I think it’s important whoever comes in next year continues to show the progress of the league because I don’t think there were many groups across East (Zone) and West (Zone) where one team got heavily beaten consistently,” said Buckingham, in a podcast with Spotify.
The Englishman added how he feels that the Indian clubs can fight with the other Asian clubs just like they have shown in their recently concluded campaign. “For us, we have not only shown that we can compete but also beat them at this level. The more opportunities we get, whether it’s Indian football or Mumbai City FC, I’d like to think that we can continue to show that we can,” Buckingham added.
The Mumbai City FC head coach highlighted that it is a huge exposure for the Indian players and coaches to participate in Asia’s top-level competition. Buckingham believes that despite ISL providing the launchpad to the new talents, it is the AFC tournaments that allow them the exposure to fight with international teams.
“I think it’s huge (to participate in AFC competitions), as a player and as a coach you want to compete against the best, and at the club level, it’s the AFC Champions League (ACL). We have the I-League back in India, now we have the Indian Super League (ISL), which provides the opportunity for the development of professional players, which will be in its eighth season,” explained the 37-year-old.
Des Buckingham had an average outing in the Indian Super League last season. But after this performance on the continental stage, hopes for Buckingham have increased as Mumbai City FC fans have huge hopes for the English tactician to make a sensational comeback with the Islanders in the upcoming season.
