Churchill’s new Portuguese coach is welcomed at the club headquarters in Varca by CEO Valanka Alemao on Wednes... Read More

PANAJI: Bernardo Tavares could have continued at Benfica de Macau for as long as he wanted. Having guided them to the Premier League title , that too undefeated, and then winning four of the six games on debut in the AFC Cup, the Portuguese coach was riding high, but knew it was time for him to move on.

Just a year earlier he was at New Radiant in Maldives where the club won the Maldives League and President’s Cup, before he was replaced with former Sporting Clube de Goa coach Oscar Bruzon. It is this ‘champion’ record that endeared him to Churchill Brothers FC, so when club boss Churchill Alemao met him for the first time on Wednesday, the message was loud and clear.

“Everyone knows that Churchill Brothers fight for trophies. That’s what we want to do this season too,” Alemao told his newly-appointed coach at the club headquarters in Varca.

Bernardo, 39, is no stranger to such demands. Any club worth its salt, will aim for the sky at the start of the season, particularly when you have an impressive 3-0 win in the opening game. But the Portuguese coach who speaks seven languages looks at things differently.

“Everyone wants to become champions. For me, the immediate target is to win the next game, and once we are done with those three points, I move on to the next game and the next three points which are on offer. That’s been my approach all along. It won’t be any different here,” Bernardo told TOI on Wednesday.

A UEFA Pro Licence coach who has experience of coaching in Europe, Asia and Africa, he has already seen recorded footage of Churchill’s impressive 3-0 win over Punjab FC in the opening game of the I-League early this week. During the only training session that he monitored, he was happy with what he saw, even though quick referencing of Indian football suggested that their next opponents, Mohun Bagan, would provide the most formidable challenge.

“I am here to improve the team and help the players do even better. Our next opponents (Bagan) are the favourites for the league. They are a strong side, and I know that there will be many contenders (for the title). But in football, it’s always 11 vs 11 on the field. We start all games zero-zero,” said Bernardo, who might be handicapped with a couple of injuries to key players.

Bernardo has a degree in sports training for high performance football from the Rio Maior University in Portugal and his stint there helped him learn from some of the world’s best coaches. It all started with Jose Mourinho at Uniao de Leiria in 2001 and then his two-month internship at Real Madrid provided him with the chance to observe Carlos Queiroz from close quarters.

After his Macau assignment last season, he looked at a “bigger challenge.” There was interest from Gulf-based clubs and a couple of European clubs took too much time to decide. When Churchill Brothers sounded him out, he decided to give it a try.

“The Portuguese have a strong connection with Goa. I did some reading (about Indian football) and knew Churchill have been a champion team in the past. This will be an interesting project,” said Bernardo.

