Atletico De Kolkata created history on Sunday night after they defeated Kerala Blasters 4-3 on penalties to become the first team to win their second Indian Super League title in three years. Kerala took the lead in the 37th minute through a Mohammed Rafi header but Kolkata equalised just before the break through a corner kick, which was headed home by defender Henrique Sereno.
Henrique Sereno, who got the equaliser for Kolkata, was a rock in the heart of Kolkata's defence. After putting in a superb shift, the former FC Porto defender picked up a slight knock and had to be taken off in the first half of extra time but he felt that his team deserved the win.
"I feel happy about that (goal) but we deserve this win. We are a good bunch of players and we won the ISL because of a lot of factors. I'm very happy with this result. Injuries are actually normal for football players. I nearly finished the entire game but I had to come off because of a problem. I will see how bad it is and see what I need to do," Goal.com quoted the defender as saying.
Atletico De Kolkata coach Jose Molina was delighted with the win and expressed his happiness with the performance of his players in what was a hard fought match.
"I'm absolutely happy after the win. It was a bit hard and I want to thank the coaching staff and everybody. My family also came in from Spain yesterday to watch the match," the Kolkata boss was quoted as saying. "I think we've worked hard throughout the season. We've improved every day. Of course, we lost two matches and could've played better in some matches. In the semi-final and final, we played very well and we deserved to win the tournament. Tonight, we could've scored more goals but we did not and we had come through the penalty shootout. We had more accuracy than Kerala there."
Atletico De Kolkata lost only two matches this tournament and Molina said that one of the key reasons as to why teams found it difficult to beat them was that they worked together as a unit.
"I don't know (why Kolkata were difficult to beat). The most important thing was we played like a team. We attacked and defended as a team throughout. We fought together," the Kolkata boss said.
"I told my players from the very first day that I want a team of players. Of course, we have great players. Without them, you can't have good teams. Sometimes, you might have great players but might not have a good team. I don't like that.
Everybody played well. Kotal played well at times, if not Keegan plays well. Hume, Belencoso, and Javi Lara — they all stepped up at times. They have all tried to help the team and I'm proud of that."
