Kolkata, Sept. 16 -- With the future of the season called into question, the past few months have been some of the most miserable for football in India. The silver lining was how wonderfully defiant the performance on the pitch was. From Thailand to Tajikistan, from Yangon to Phnom Penh, Sangita Basfore to Sandesh Jhingan, India's men, women, the U-20 women and East Bengal defied odds to earn a podium finish, secure Asian qualifications and a berth among the continent's elite women clubs. Segueing into that can-do spirit was Anirudh Thapa's assertion on Monday "that whatever was happening (off the field) doesn't define our preparations." With that the Mohun Bagan Super Giant and India midfielder set the tone for his club and FC Goa who will start their campaigns with home matches in the Asian Champions League 2 over the next two days. "That's the point, isn't it," said Mohun Bagan head coach Jose Molina. "We want to show that we are not just a big team in India but that we can compete in Asia." Speaking from Goa, FC Goa head coach Manolo Marquez told HT: "For the club to grow, playing these tournaments are very important. Which is why our preliminary target was to qualify. No disrespect to our opponents in India but you want to play bigger and stronger teams and now we are guaranteed six matches against them including three at home." Scratched last season because they did not want to travel to Iran citing safety concerns, Molina had said Mohun Bagan's target would be to make the ACL2 finals again. That was last November when Mohun Bagan were six matches old in ISL having barely shaken off a very wobbly start. The club and their head coach have kept their word and their journey begins at Salt Lake stadium on Tuesday against Turkmenistan's Ahal FK. One day later, FC Goa host Iraq's Al-Zawraa. "Theoretically, a team from Iraq is much stronger than one from India. But we have shown that it is possible to beat such teams," said Marquez referring to FC Goa's 2-1 win against Oman's Al-Seeb in August that helped them make it two teams from India in ACL2 for the first time....