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December 30, 2021. Football's enigmatic 'Black pearl' - Pele - had breathed his last a day before.
Reporters at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata flocked to the mixed zone for a bite from Sunil Chhetri on the legend's demise. But the Indian skipper with folded hands, humble as ever but dejected, denied any interaction.
Chhetri seemed like a forlorn figure coming out of the dressing room that night and he had all the reasons to be. His club Bengaluru FC had slumped to their eighth defeat of the season and slipped to 10th on the grid in the Indian Super League (ISL) standings.
Former Bengaluru FC forward Cleiton Silva, now plying his trade for East Bengal FC, stabbed right through the hearts of the Blues with a match-winning freekick in the 92nd minute.
All the euphoric whirls from their big-money moves in the summer transfer window and the Durand Cup victory had started to fizzle out. Fans were already calling for gaffer Simon Grayson's head.
But football, quite like life, is often very comical. You sprinkle a little bit of hindsight and what was once the most rational and meticulous reasoning might look outlandish.
Like the former lover, you once dated. Or, in Bengaluru's case, the uproar of sacking the head coach.
Bengaluru FC's trailblazing run to the ISL 2022-23 Final and the audacity to suffer
The turn of the new year also miraculously turned into a new chapter for Bengaluru FC and Simon Grayson. Rather than relinquishing his trusted 3-5-2, as he had done right from the initial ISL matches, the Englishman decided to revert to his enduring arsenal.
Under Grayson's stewardship, the Blues mastered the audacity to suffer, not with the intention of surrendering but with becoming the punching bag that punches back.
The first casualty of this renovated Bengaluru FC unit was bottom-placed NorthEast United FC. Ninety minutes of tenacious football from both sides, only for Alan Costa to seal it at the death.
Odisha FC came next, but they too were humbled by some of the most enticing bits of counter-attacking play the league had ever seen. At no point did the Blues look extravagant in their approach.
Against the likes of ATK Mohun Bagan, Mumbai City FC, and FC Goa, there were periods when Bengaluru FC players didn't feel the leather of the ball on their boots for a while.
There's often a narrative going around among the possession connoisseurs: 'If you have the ball, the opposition cannot score.' But guess what? Even if you don't have the ball, the opposition cannot score if you don't let them. The players were indoctrinated with the ideology - graft, graft, graft, and strike!
They switched their pressing styles too. Rather than pushing up the field in defensive phases to win the ball, the tweak was to welcome the opposition into their half and then initiate the press.
With his agricultural counter-attacking football, Grayson turned his doubters and naysayers into his admirers and Bengaluru FC into a miracle club overnight. Eight emphatic victories strung together levitated the Blues into not just the knockout spots but even the top four.
The reward for the fairytale run? A date with Kerala Blasters in the Eliminator. To say the tie was impregnated with drama would be an understatement. Let's not go there today!
For those unaware, let's just pretend it was a boring tie that went goalless into extra time, and the player who was most expected to score just did so in a regular manner. No forfeits, no social media turmoil, no effigy burning, and no hate comments followed after.
Long story short, the Blues reserved a berth in the semi-finals against the League Shield winners and favorites Mumbai City FC. Two hundred and ten minutes of electrifying football. An average of 64.5 percent possession over the two matches for the Islanders.
Forty-five shots faced by Bengaluru FC during the tie. Gurpreet peppered. Sandesh Jhingan and Aleksandar Jovanovic were often outfoxed. Yet, the Blues never trailed. In contrast, they led for more than half of the game. Final scoreline: 2-2.
The drama spilled over into the dreaded penalty shootout. Time for the toss and Bengaluru FC would have to digest the first strike yet again. Champagne spot-kicks from the two batches of takers saw the tally being pushed to 8-8 as were deep into sudden death.
Who dares to blink now? Mumbai City, after two legs of stubborn but regal attacking display, faltered in the final corner. Mehtab Singh's timid attempt was saved with aplomb by Gurpreet.
The veteran keeper roared on the crowd, and Sandesh, the man who now shouldered the responsibility of carrying Bengaluru FC over the line. Conceding chance after chance, withstanding hit after hit, yet the Blues, unfazed, now stood with their fists clenched. Coiled up like a viper to inject the killing venom.
Eyes on the prize. Sandesh steadily jogged towards the motionless ball and kissed it with his boots before it bundled into the net with Phurba Lachenpa diving the other way.
He got hit like I got hit, but he ain’t f**king breathing. Bengaluru FC's odyssey embodied a certain grittiness. The kind that sends shivers down the opponent's spine, even if they are the first to land a blow. The kind that makes you nonchalantly recite rapper 50 Cent's cult classic 'Many Men'.
The Blues now have one final frontier to conquer - Juan Ferrando's ATK Mohun Bagan in the ISL final. A message for the challenger? You come at Bengaluru FC, you best not miss.
