‘I felt confident about who would be champions’

As the replacement for countryman Hernan Barcos, who sensationally bagged four goals in his Bashundhara Kings debut AFC Cup match, Argentine striker Rahul Oscar Becerra initially failed to convince for the defending Federation Cup champions.

But, with all said and done, the 33-year-old hogged the spotlight after scoring the decisive goal in a 1-0 win in the final against Saif SC yesterday. He also finished as the tournament's joint-top scorer alongside Saif SC's Nigerian striker Kenneth Ngwoke, with the latter adjudged the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.

Becerra scored five goals in as many matches as Bashundhara Kings retained the Federation Cup and the Argentine expressed happiness that he was able to contribute.

"I worked for goals. I worked hard for the team after joining as the coach decided whether I would stay in the eleven. Whatever the team needed, I gave it to the team. My colleagues helped me score because I came here to help Bashundhara. I also became the highest scorer in America, but it was my first experience in the sub-continent and I am happy to have scored the highest number of goals in the tournament," Becerra, his body draped in an Argentine flag, told The Daily Star after the match.

"We were confident of winning the title because we have been a champion team. It is a strong side with many national players and the experience of playing in finals before," Becerra said. "The message from our coach was to play, enjoy the final and win it."

However, Becerra opined that their semifinal against Abahani was tougher than yesterday's tie against Saif SC.

"I think the semifinal was very tough because there were big players, Brazilian players. The long ball was difficult to defend and it took extra time to win the match but today I felt confident about who would be champions," said Becerra, whose focus now turns to the Bangladesh Premier League and Independence Cup.

Bashundhara Kings captain Tapu Barman was also excited to have claimed the title after coming into action following the lengthy layoff due to Covid-19.

"We performed well from the beginning of the tournament and our confidence grew match-by-match on the back of four months of pre-season preparations. We were also excited to play football after a long gap due to the coronavirus. That's why every player was very serious and active to show themselves on the ground," national defender Tapu said.

Tapu's Saif SC counterpart, Riyadul Hasan Rafi, was disappointed by the result but wanted to look forward to performing well in the coming days and drawing inspiration from this Federation Cup performance.

"It was bad luck that we could not avail the opportunities while the opponents cashed in on one chance to win the match. I think we could have taken the match away from Bashundhara Kings had Fahim availed a one-on-one chance in the first half," Rafi said. "But becoming runners-up is also big achievement for Saif SC and we will try to play better in the upcoming Bangladesh Premier League and Independence Cup."