Bengaluru's Chhetri lauds team-mates for reaching AFC Cup final

After I-League champions Bengaluru FC scripted history by reaching the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup final, skipper Sunil Chhetri heaped praise on his team-mates for the achievement.

Bengaluru FC on Wednesday defeated defending champions Johor Darul Ta'zim 3-1, 4-2 on aggregate over two legs, to book a final clash with Air Force Club of Iraq on November 5 in Doha, Qatar.

Chhetri scored twice to lead from the front after Bengaluru conceded an early goal.

"The best part of the club is whoever is associated with Bengaluru FC, right from Sajjan Jindal, our coach, our ball boy everyone puts in so much effort to achieve the result. It's a closely knit family," he said at the post-match press conference on Wednesday.

"You don't believe how happy I'm now. In fact, I'm at a loss for words expressing it. This result is not just an achievement of the eleven players. Rather this has been possible because of the entire Bengaluru FC family."

"We don't know what we're going to achieve next but one thing is for sure that we'll keep on pushing hard and we'll stay together whatever happens," he added.

Meanwhile, Bengaluru coach Albert Roca didn't mince his words praising the skipper as the architect of the historic win.

"He's (Sunil) the right captain. He's an example to all of us present here. Bengaluru FC can't have any better captain than him. He doesn't only work on his game but helps other players a lot. Undoubtedly, he's a big part of the success which we achieved," Roca said.

Roca also had a word of praise for the electrifying atmosphere created by the Bengaluru FC fans.

"It was terrific. Really I mean it. The constant cheer from the first minute made our oppositions' life uneasy and it paved the way to winning the match eventually."

--IANS

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