Kerala Blasters FC head coach David Catala praised the commitment of his players, who put in a solid performance to eliminate defending champions East Bengal FC and advance to the quarterfinals of the Kalinga Super Cup 2025.

The Blasters, playing their first competitive game under Catala, began strongly, with Noah Sadaoui's well-timed cross creating an early scoring chance for Jesus Jimenez, who failed to convert. A balanced first half followed until a 40th-minute defensive error by Anwar Ali led to a penalty, which Jimenez converted to give Kerala Blasters FC the lead.

Match Report: Kerala Blasters FC 2-0 East Bengal FC

In the second half, Catala's men maintained their composure defensively, and Sadaoui capped their performance with a brilliant individual goal, sealing a 2-0 victory.

Following the 2-0 win against East Bengal FC, the coach expressed pride in the players' competitive spirit and commitment, noting that while there's still room for improvement, the win was a positive step.

"I wanted to change the mentality of these players, and they showed me that they still want to compete, that they have a soul, and that I have to be very proud of the work of all of them against East Bengal FC. And let's go, let's continue — there's nothing done yet, of course, a lot of things to improve, but it's a small step that we took," the coach said during the post-match press conference.

David Catala took over from interim head coach TG Purushothaman ahead of the Kalinga Super Cup and outlined his initial plans to work closely with the players in training, drawing comparisons with the team’s performances during the ISL campaign.

"For me, the most important thing was to try and change a little bit of the mentality that they had because I understand them. It was a very difficult and very tough season for them, with high expectations. Trying to recover this mentality, to make them understand and make them believe in this Super Cup, and how we need to compete in it — for me, this was the most important,” Catala stated.

"After that, we tried to put our ideas to work. Of course, in 20 days, it's not easy to try to change many things. But now, I recognise that I have to be very proud of these players because their effort has been amazing,” he added.

The road ahead poses a significant challenge for his side, and Catala spoke a little about their plans going into the next knockout quarter-final game against ISL double winners Mohun Bagan Super Giant.

"Now we have to be ready. We have to now think about Mohun Bagan Super Giant, how they’re going to play, how we can cause damage, how we can recover our best feelings for the game. And that's it. We have five days to try to give our best. And for sure, my mission right now is to try to not go down, to keep the same spirit, the same effort that they have shown me every day in training,” the coach said as he concluded.

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