Akhil Rawat
AIFF Media Team

KOLKATA: Champion mentality is never to rest easy. A tremendously successful domestic season with Mohun Bagan Super Giant, capped off with the coveted AIFF Men's Player of the Year Award, has only fuelled defender Subhasish Bose's hunger for more success in India's blue during the June FIFA International Window.

"Yes, the year has gone very well for me, and this kind of season always helps boost the confidence of any player. It also motivates me to work harder and improve myself, so that I can play better for my country. We’ve got two international matches in front of us, and we want to give our best in these matches and try to get the desired results for India," Bose told reporters during the training session in Kolkata.

The Blue Tigers began training for the friendly against Thailand (June 4) and the AFC Asian Cup Qualifier against Hong Kong (June 10), on Monday at the AIFF National Centre of Excellence in Kolkata, Bose's hometown.

"I’m especially happy that the camp is being held in Kolkata, and that AIFF has made efforts to make facilities such as the NCE here, so that the national team can train on quality pitches such as the ones we get here," said the 29-year-old.

Bose has 42 caps for the senior national team so far, and is aiming to represent India in a third consecutive AFC Asian Cup. From playing every single minute during the 2019 Asian Cup in the UAE as a 23-year-old, his seven-year journey with the Blue Tigers until now has been a hallmark of consistency.

"I consider myself to be fortunate to be able to play for the nation. Not all matches are the same, but all are important. Sometimes you do well, sometimes you don’t. That’s part of the game. What’s important is that we all work together and play as a unit, then not only can we get the clean sheets, but also score goals.”

Bose was the third-highest Indian scorer in the Indian Super League this season with six goals, emphatic numbers for a left-back. While he still eyes his first for the country, as long as India score and keep clean sheets, all will be well.

"I believe that we have a lot of talented and creative players who can score goals. Even Sunil (Chhetri) bhai is back, so I hope that in the next two matches, we score goals, and also defend in a compact manner and get clean sheets,” he said.

"Perhaps we’ve made some small mistakes over the last few matches. But that’s what we’re here to work on. We need to improve ourselves in these areas before approaching the two matches ahead. Coach has been discussing the areas of improvement with us during this camp, and we are all training to get better in such areas," Bose said.

Over a week of training in Kolkata, followed by six days in Thailand, is a healthy amount of time to prepare for the friendly game ahead of the all-important qualifier in Hong Kong. After a long and busy domestic season, culminating with the Kalinga Super Cup on May 3, the players had a brief rest period before getting back to the grind.

"We’ve all played for different clubs over the season, but we try to gel well together, which is very important because we’ve all played under different systems under different coaches. Now we have to settle into the system that coach Manolo has laid out for us so that we perform better in a collective manner.

"Playing under different coaches and systems is part and parcel of all professional footballers’ lives. We’ve been doing that since we were kids. I don’t think it's that difficult, but of course, we all need to be on the same tune, and play with the same mentality," Bose added.