ISL 2021-22: KBFC is a young team, coming from far away - Vukomanovic

It was a spirited yet bold performance from Kerala Blasters FC (KBFC) against league winner Jamshedpur FC (JFC) in the semis of the Indian Super League (ISL) 2021-22. Played at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda (Goa) on Friday, KBFC managed to register a 1-0 win, as it stays in the lead, moving into the second leg on Tuesday. In the meantime, KBFC head coach Ivan Vukomanovic has termed his side as a young one.

Following the win, Vukomanovic expressed his delight at how KBFC executed its gameplay and backed it to do the same during the second leg. He also reckoned that this win gave the side an idea of going about in the next match. He asserted that the game was a physical one against a side that is the league winner after 20 games, and it would be the same on Tuesday as well.

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"After the new year, there was no time to prepare and even for the training. Even with the COVID outbreak, we reduced our program and training process to a minimum, with days of isolation. Even now, tomorrow will be recovering, a refreshing day and then one-day training preparation for the game. So, it will be the same. I think we will see quite a similar game. It will be in a different environment because we will be playing in Tilak Stadium. Hopefully, that will see a good match because sometimes in this period, at the end of the season, everybody's emotionally and physically exhausted. We cannot see friendly football. There are many ugly things. And, you know, this is the way that we are going to finish this season. So again, we're going to try to prepare our best and then try to play a good game," Vukomanovic explained during the post-match presser.