Intiaz Khan scored the winner and lifted the Battle of the Giants trophy when Suva defeated Navua 2-1 in 1995 and today he will look to rewrite history on the same pitch and against the same opponent, but as a coach.
Khan, who had an illustrious and loyal playing career of 16 years with Suva and also coached the Whites briefly later on, surprised many by taking up the interim mentoring role with defending champions Labasa and has so far, guided them successfully in two matches.
Speaking to FijiLive, Khan said he was asked to assist the Babasiga Lions by President and his close friend Rayaz Khan and his passion for football could not hold him back.
Khan said when he was appointed to guide the northerners at the BOG qualifying stage, a lot of people didn’t believe in his coaching capability but he was out to prove them wrong.
“Today is the final and it will be a different ball game for everyone in the team and also for me as a coach.”
“When I was named as a coach there was a mixed reaction. A lot of people were shocked while some did not even have faith that we’d reach this far.”
“This is the first time I’m coaching a team apart from Suva and I hope to achieve success together with this team. It’s not just the players who have a lot on their plate but the entire team officials are sharing responsibilities in building the game plan from which we managed to reach this far.”
“The fans need to have faith in the team because these boys have what it takes to prove the critics wrong.”
The former national Futsal coach added the team will need to change their mindset going into the final against an undefeated Navua outfit.
“We can score but it’s just that we get nervous at times that we might miss the short. When we get the chances we need to have a clear mind and have faith in ourselves which will drive us towards success.”
“These boys can perform but it’s just that we need to get out of our comfort zone and attack when we have to and defend when we know the opponents are firing up powerful strikes.”
“Once we have faith in ourselves, we will be able to get the job done and I believe in my boys. They just get nervous at times but we’ll come as a changed team in the final. We need to have a positive mindset and that’s how we can get the result we all want.”
The final between Extra Supermarket Labasa and Southern Forest Navua will kick start at 3pm.
