The joy of a hattrick

Hundreds of spectators surrounded and hugged Jakaria Babu as the Abahani coach kept crying following his side's hattrick title of the Federation Cup at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

“I don't know why I am crying. May be I'm crying out of happiness,” said the AFC A license-holder coach as he wiped his tears. It was not only the coach, but all of the players, officials and fans were living the joy as the Sky Blues came back strongly to beat Bashundhara Kings 3-1 in the eventful final, earning the right to represent Bangladesh in the upcoming AFC Cup.

“I have always said that we have the ability to reimburse goals and win matches because the players were really confident about it,” Babu said after the victory. “At the interval, I briefed the players to keep believing in themselves. The players were a bit nervous after conceding the lead in the first half but they really showed their character to come back strongly.

“All the credit goes to the players, not just Sunday or Belfort. Every player is equal for me and they collectively played their best. I also must admit that the club management and manager Satyajit Das Rupu played a tremendous role in building the team,” Babu said, adding the last-moment incident was unexpected and Sunday was hit intentionally.

Abahani captain Shahidul Alam Shohel said, “We were excited because it was a big match with both teams wanting to win the final. During the interval, the coach told us not to hurry, rather keeping cool as we have the ability to reimburse the goal and score more.

“Sunday is one of best foreign players I have seen in my career. Today he had a great contribution but all the players and club management gave a great effort to make our dream true,” explained Sohel.

Bashundhara Kings coach Oscar Bruzon explained his side's defeat by saying, “We failed to keep momentum in the second half where Abahani were better side, however, some of the decisions by the referee went against us. Besides, we also gave away some scoring opportunities and failed to hold the lead.”