ISL 2025-26: NorthEast United FC head coach Benali urges fans to make sacrifices to help Indian football

NorthEast United FC head coach Juan Pedro Benali urged fans to stand behind their respective teams and make sacrifices that will help the clubs and Indian football as a whole.

«It is easy to criticize on social media. Buy tickets to watch your team, be it NorthEast United FC, East Bengal FC or Kerala Blasters FC, and make people feel that football is important. Instead of sitting at home and criticizing and not watching the matches, come to the stadium,» he said ahead of NEUFC’s Indian Super League (ISL) 2025-26 season opener against East Bengal.

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«We know it is a difficult moment, but support your team. The money is there for that alone. The sacrifice you make by traveling to watch the match, whether it is 10, 20, 50 or 80 km, is a sacrifice. But if you make that sacrifice, you earn the right to criticize, and you can say: I helped my club,» Benali said.

He called for unity during a challenging period and urged supporters to stand behind their clubs regardless of results.

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«It’s not a moment to say NorthEast won’t do well or go to the second division. No, it’s a moment to be with everyone, regardless of the results. Be with your team, your players,» he said.

«This is the real moment to be a family. This is the real moment to be an Indian football family, all together. The clubs, the players, the fans. This is the moment to show the world that even if 10 percent of the Indian population loves football, there are 150 million people. But let’s be together,» Benali concluded.

Published on February 18, 2026