After taking on the position of coach for TC in late November, experienced coach Mohamed Athif (Aathee) has said that "a different TC will be seen." That may be a challenge to himself, with its promise of completely changing TC.
Athif's TC was the first team to stop Maziya's winning streak. One of the teams to put out some of the best results in the second round of the league was TC as well. Out of nine matches played in the second round, they won five of them, drew one game and lost three.
When Athif was made coach of TC, the team was in danger of being relegated. That danger was turned on its head, with TC making it to the top six in the leader board with a goal difference of just one goal.
This season is being dominated by foreign coaches, with Athif being the only Maldivian coach who can challenge them.
Athif and his team will be facing New Radiant tonight in the FA Cup final.
With the changes that were made to the coaching and Technical Director positions in the tail end of the season, New Radiant's coach at the time, Ali Suzain, had switched over to the position of Technical Director. The Technical Director at the time was Francisco Manuel Caínzos, who was made coach and took New Radiant to the finals in the first tournament he had been a part of.
The current coach of India's East Bengal team Óscar Bruzón Barreras had acted as the coach for New Radiant, with Caínzos being appointed the coach upon his recommendation. It can be seen that Óscar shared his insights regarding Maldivian football with Caínzos. When Caínzos had made his way to Maldives, he would have had detailed knowledge about Maldivian football already. And since he had taken the time to watch Dhivehi Premier League (DPL) matches before he was named the Head Coach, he would have known the quality of all the teams.
The last time TC has played in an FA Cup finals was in 2017 against New Radiant as well. New Radiant won the FA Cup with Óscar as their coach.
Nine years later, Óscar's friend Caínzos will be coming onto the pitch with New Radiant. The TC nine years ago is much different to what they are now. TC had a strong squad at the time, with them having a mediocre squad. Athif has completely changed the team from the time their results were subpar at the start of the season.
They were able to make it to the final with a mediocre squad. The difference Athif mentioned can now be seen from the team. Athif and his team will be going up against one of the strongest squads this season, New Radiant, in what will be a challenging final.
