Mehtab Hossain.Iain Hume and Mehtab Hossain were both overjoyed after Kerala Blasters FC qualified for the semi-finals with a 1-0 win over FC Pune City in Kochi on Tuesday, with the former Canadian international striker himself scoring the matchwinner. Both players applauded the fans of the Blasters for their overwhelming support when they spoke to indiansuperleague.com after the match.“First of all, thanks to Allah, today we played better! We’re always nervous when we start playing, then in the second half we played well. Also, an excellent goal from Humey,” Hossain said.The combative defensive midfielder from Bengal acknowledged the problems caused by the Pune attack as the local team fought hard to keep their citadel intact. “It’s always difficult because they play three strikers, which is why they play long balls. We had a half time discussion on how to tackle this problem,” Hossain revealed.Asked if the game felt like a final, Hossain promptly replied, “Yes it did, we were really nervous initially but in the second half we regained our confidence and everything was better.”Kerala fans have certainly been then most enthusiastic in terms of attendance and their support and Hossain expressed his gratitude for that. “It felt really good; it’s the first time that I’m playing outside Kolkata in ten years. It’s an amazing crowd to play in front of,” said Hossain.Iain Hume.Hume, who was named Hero of the Match, was also thrilled with the crowd backing. “Every time we play here it’s been unbelievable! I’m not sure if we’re mathematically through to the knockouts but it does feel really good to play here. I don’t know how many people came today, we’ve had crowds like 37,000 then 48,000, then 61,000 and it does feel like much more than that,” he observed.Hume also praised the performance of goalkeeper Sandip Nandy who made a number of saves to deny Pune all through the game. “It wasn’t pretty, both teams had chances to score. We had three or four good chances to score. I wouldn’t say we were lucky; we’ve got a keeper who’s in top form today, it was the best goalkeeping performance I’ve seen in the league,” declared Hume.
