Bengaluru FC B team captain Namgyal Bhutia has stated that they have shown Reliance Foundation Development League players can play with the big boys in the Hero Indian Super League. Bengaluru FC had to hold Kerala Blasters in the last match of the tournament to clinch the inaugural season of the RFDL and the Blues were able to do that as the match ended in a goalless draw.
Bengaluru FC ended up with 19 points whereas the Tuskers could manage 16 points. Bhutia was delighted with his team’s performance after winning RFDL and feels such a tournament is good for the development of young players, who are rising through the ranks.
While speaking to the RFDL Media Team after the match, he said, “This is our first trophy after two years, this is the first trophy we (have) won. I’m so happy for the team and very proud of my boys. In tournaments like RFDL, we develop as a team, and we develop individually also. We have shown that B team boys can go play for the senior team also.”
On the other hand, Bengaluru FC reserve team head coach Naushad Moosa gave his gratitude to the organizers and also congratulated Kerala Blasters for a good tournament.
In the post mast interaction, Naushad Moosa said,” I would like to thank Reliance for this wonderful platform. All the teams were very competitive. This tournament really helped us get some competitive games for us to understand the level of the players. It’s also a good platform for even the coaches.”
“I would like to congratulate Kerala, the way they played. They were the best team. I am proud of the boys, the way they played throughout the tournament,” he added.
Meanwhile, Kerala Blasters coach Tomasz Tchorz was delighted with the team’s performance as they showed a lot of character.
He said, “I think we played very well, We dominated the opponent and we created a lot of chances. If this was a longer league, we would see this game as a really beautiful game between two good opponents. The thing is that the league is very short in duration. Anybody can lose points and the goal difference is also important.”
“So this is the thing, if you’re playing a short league, you have to sometimes have this additional luck, let’s say, but from the football perspective, we were the best team. We have the best players. Even Bengaluru FC, I consider a very good team. I think we dominated completely, so I’m very happy from the football perspective,” he further added.
