Atlético de Kolkata head coach Antonio Lopez Habas was pleased as punch following his team’s 4-1 win against FC Pune City that sealed the defending champions a place in the semi-finals of the second edition of Hero Indian Super League. Iain Hume scored his second hat-trick of the season while one goal came from Dejan Lekic.“I’m very happy with us qualifying for the semis. I think the confident mentality of the team has worked. It is football, you lose some day, you win some day. Football has a lot to do with your mental state, you have to stay positive,” Habas told reporters after the match.ATK lost three matches in a row in the first half of the league stage before staging a brilliant comeback by taking 13 points from their last five matches. When asked what brought about the revival, Habas said: “It was the result of hard work and discipline. It is the magic of discipline and mentality and lastly talent. It is the combination of talent, hard work, discipline and mentality. This is the magic combination.”Habas also chalked his team’s success up to the pre-season training in Spain. “We trained 14 days in Spain and now this is the result. The mental state of the whole squad is positive and this shows in the performances. It’s not just about Iain Hume or Sameehg Doutie or Arata [Izumi], when the team is playing with a positive outlook everything goes fine.”Habas also showered plenty of praise on Canadian forward Hume who was now just one goal behind Chennaiyin FC’s Stiven Mendoza, the top-scorer this season with 10 goals. “For me Hume has fantastic energy in the field. He lifts the team up. It’s about his energy and discipline and hard work. I don’t want to choose just one player for me though, all my players are important,” Habas said.
