Ability to make comebacks down to special mentality: Odisha FC’s Clifford Miranda

Odisha FC’s head coach Clifford Miranda reckons his ability to make comebacks is down to the special mentality. Miranda was named as the head coach until the end of the season. He had taken over as the assistant coach before the start of the Hero ISL season 2022-23.

Meanwhile, the Juggernauts registered a come-from-behind win as they defeated Hyderabad FC by 2-1 in the final group stage of the ongoing Hero Super Cup. Thus, the Kalinga Warriors also qualified for the semifinals of the tournament.

On the other hand, Odisha FC played a 1-1 draw against East Bengal FC in their opening match of the competition. Subsequently, they defeated Aizawl FC by 3-0 in their second game.

“We drew the first game (against East Bengal FC), when we came back from behind, and then again overturned a deficit against Hyderabad FC to win the match, so I feel the boys have shown how mentally strong they are. They do not back down when things get tough, and that’s a special mentality to have,” Miranda said to the-aiff.com after reaching the semi-final.

Miranda admitted that he made tiny changes to the squad and the majority of the work was done by former coach Josep Gombau.

“To be honest, it was already a set team when we took over, and the previous coach (Josep) Gombau had done a great job. After I took over, I merely tweaked a couple of things and the players responded very well, he explained.

The 40-year-old from Margao wants his players to stay focused and deliver the goods in the knockout stage of the tournament.

“We obviously are looking forward to the semi-finals. Of course, we will keep an eye out for who our opponents will be, but regardless of that, our approach will be the same,” Miranda said.

“We want to put ourselves in a good position to go further to the finals,” he concluded.

Odisha FC will take on NorthEast United FC on Saturday in the semifinals.