We played well against the visitors: Bencherifa

"Al Wehdat players were physically superior and most of their players had experience playing in the AFC Cup. They knew what they were doing, they held possession and attacked at will. However I will take nothing from Salgaocar as my boys showed a lot of character. We were better than Wehdat in many departments like good crosses, sideflanks, speed, energy etc. Overall I am very happy," stated Bencherifa.

"I want to stress on two things for growth of football in India, firstly Indian clubs should be placed in the East group where we compete with the other Asian countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam etc.

"The physical characteristics of the players from these countries match those in India and Indian clubs will perform very well there. This will also help the fans as they don't have to get disappointed with their teams losing out in the first round itself.

"Secondly, the timing of the AFC Cup matches collide with the transfer period in India. The football season comes to an end this time of the year and I don't think it is a correct time," he said.

Visitors' coach Branco said, "Although we have won the match it was not easy for us out there. We played well and controlled the proceedings in the first half with proper mix of possession and attacks, we also did not want to wear out the players due to extreme humidity hence we played more of a passing game.

"I am happy with today's win as we have jumped to the first position with Al Arouba having drawn their match against Neftchi,". PTI MCS ABC AH