At full-time, Bengaluru FC skipper Sunil Chhetri cut a sorry figure on the field.
Although he converted the penalty in the shootout, his team – Bengaluru FC – were eliminated, losing to a side that had earned promotion to the ISL just two years ago.
«I am very proud of my team tonight,» said Panagiotis Dilperis, the head coach of Punjab, «especially my Indian boys. I think the way they played and performed is the way Indian football will grow and be played in the future.»
Punjab’s boom is not a sudden miracle, for its roots run deep – fueled by a youth development system designed to ensure that cubs one day become Shers. Now pride roars.
Bottom-up approach to development
Sankarlal Chakraborty, coach of the Punjab reserve team and former assistant to Sanjoy Sen in Mohun Bagan’s winning campaign in the I-League, explains what sets Punjab apart.
«The difference in service here (from Mohun Bagan then) is hell and heaven. Here, at the grassroots, the youth from the academy stay together. They have a separate coach, assistant coach, physio, yoga teacher and nutritionist – an organized structure that I have never seen there,» he says.
Under the leadership of director of football Nikolaos Topoliatis, Punjab has set up an academy in Mohali, hoping to make it a high profile.
Topoloatis was part of Olympiakos’ youth development team, which produced Premier League winner Kostas Tsimikas. And the Greek coach, holder of the UEFA Pro license, wants to have a similar success story with this club.
The Punjab academy/reserve side won the Punjab State Super Football League title in 2022-2023 and the Reliance Foundation Development League a year later.
The success saw it travel to the United Kingdom for the Premier League Next Generation Cup, where it finished above three of the four English teams – Everton, Villa and Crystal Palace – to secure third place in the tournament, the highest achievement by an Indian team in five editions.
READ | Super Cup 2025-26: Punjab eliminates Bengaluru FC
Importance for Indian players in the Super Cup
The Shers have not opted for an all-Indian squad in the Super Cup, unlike Chennaiyin FC, Jamshedpur FC or Mohammedan Sporting.
While six foreigners are allowed in the playing XIs in the Super Cup, Punjab has picked just three – one short of the threshold in ISL. Seven members of the squad come from the youth system, including centre-back Pramveer Singh, the youngest-ever starter in ISL.
Paramveer Singh of Punjab FC is the youngest starter in the history of ISL. | Photo credit: ISL MEDIA
Paramveer Singh of Punjab FC is the youngest starter in the history of ISL. | Photo credit: ISL MEDIA
Despite there being no certainty about ISL this season, several top clubs have started the tournament with up to six foreigners. Punjab came in with three before adding one more after the first match. But it was limited to three players at a time, leaving youngsters like Muhammed Suhail, Manglenthang Kipgen and Pramveer in focus.
It has resulted in five Indian goalscorers out of the six goals scored by Punjab.
On the other hand, every ISL side, barring last-minute Sporting Club Delhi, has used a maximum of four at a time, including Bengaluru FC, which did so against Mohammedan Sporting.
Against Punjab, Bengaluru fielded three foreigners – a clash between two sides with similar academy infrastructure and promising graduates in Sivasakthi Narayanan and Vinith Venkatesh.
However, the other aspect of Punjab’s blueprint emerged: an early pre-season, which was underlined by both coaches after the match.
«The boys deserve a break. They have been training since July,» Dilperis said after the match, while Bengaluru coach Gerard Zaragoza said a shorter pre-season could have played a role in the elimination.
«We started the season or preparation in September, something that is not that fun, not good for the players or for a professional club. But it is what it is,» Zaragoza had said earlier.
Neither Indian players nor foreigners guarantee success in Indian football. It comes from finding the right mix of quality and quantity of players from and outside the country, along with a good plan before the show starts.
It seems like Punjab has fulfilled all these requirements and reached the last four of the Super Cup.
Published on November 6, 2025
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