Minutes before the Indian Super League season kicked off at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi Friday evening, Kerala Blasters’ head coach Ivan Vukomanovic walked out onto the pitch and greeted the home supporters. He was given a rousing reception and the Serbian reciprocated by bowing before the packed house that was a sea of yellow, the team’s home colour.
At full-time when his team had scored thrice in the last 20 minutes to register a thumping 3-1 win over East Bengal, Vukomanovic revisited the impact of the 12th player, the fans. “It was huge, it was priceless, when you have this kind of support, especially when you’re giving your everything on the pitch,” Vukomanovic said.
He reminded how most of his players had never experienced anything similar. That with such a vocal fanbase backing them, Blasters could go on yet another dream run in the league. They had been the losing finalists last season when the league – like the season before that – was staged at a neutral venue (Goa) due to the COVID-19 pademic.
“There can be many foreign players coming to India, playing in a great, big team, but this kind of atmosphere was something that many of the foreign players never experienced in their life.
“These fans push you to do better, you have to give your everything for them, even the last drop of your sweat. If you keep believing in the things you want, you saw it personally, how the fans pushed us harder to do better after the first goal. It can be really intimidating for the away team.”
It is Vukomanovic’s second season with the Blasters and he’s here for the long run having only recently renewed his contract for three more years. He realises that his team is far from perfect, and that the players have to keep learning to get better with each game. “That’s how players become better, the more games they play in front of this crowd, the better they become.”
Fruitful ending
Until Adrian Luna showed the resolve to attack a long ball delivered into the box to open Blasters' scoring in the 72nd minute, the match was goalless. Vukomanovic said he wasn’t surprised that goals weren’t easy to come by till then.
“We knew that this game would not be about the first 15 minutes, it would not be decided in the first half. Even after the first half, following our team talk in the dressing room, we wanted to stay organised and calm to manage this game because this kind of game, when you come back after so long, playing without the fans, there are many emotions. There are many mental things involved too apart from the technical aspects in such a great atmosphere, and I’m really grateful for the support from the fans, it was priceless.
“So, we said that we have to keep believing, to stay focused, especially in the first 10, 15 minutes in the second half. Trying to repeat the things as we wanted to keep creating more and more chances, especially on the physical side. All of this led to us scoring the goal. So, we’re very happy.”
Kaliuzhnyi the weapon
Vukomanovic had a number of quality players on the bench, including a loan signing, Ivan Kaliuzhnyi. The fans knew the young Ukrainian attacker would be introduced at some point. Vukomanovic timed his substitution perfectly. Just minutes after his team took the lead and with little over 10 minutes left he brought in Kaliuzhnyi.
The idea, he later said, was to exploit the spaces left behind by East Bengal midfield that would have had to open up in search of an equaliser. And he was spot on. Kaliuzhnyi exploited the freedom and got a late brace to emerge as a hero.
“We signed some new players with quality. I think this is something that we didn’t have last year and this extra weapon, (Kaliuzhnyi) you can use in many different situations. He’s a great human being, we’re so glad that he arrived in India, at Kerala Blasters FC. He’s a technical and skillful player who can play across different positions and is someone who can manage and master these kinds of games,” Vukomanovic added.
