Rahul Bheke’s football journey: Touching Mumbai, scoring a historic goal

It was on a March 2019 evening in Mumbai that local player Bheke, playing for Bengaluru FC, headed a corner into the FC Goa net for a 117th minute winner that handed his team the maiden Indian Super League (ISL) title. It was another header that delivered the second goal in Mumbai City FC’s 2-1 win against Iraq’s Air Force Club in their AFC Champions League (ACL) tie in Riyadh this month for a first win by an Indian club in the competition.

Not too bad for the CV of a defender.

“As a defender, I don’t get many chances to score; the only time is during set-pieces for which we work so hard. So I make sure that whenever I go for them, I make it count. Even during the (2018-19) ISL final, it was important for me to make that set-piece count,” Bheke, 31, said from Riyadh. “Here, I was happy that for that corner, I was at the right place at the right time. And I got that goal.”

That goal was special for many reasons. It was the first scored by an Indian in the elite Asian club tournament. The two goals by FC Goa last year were by foreign recruits, while Diego Mauricio got the 2020-21 ISL champions off the mark with the equaliser against Air Force Club. Apt for a Mumbaikar to script the special winner for Mumbai City to achieve a milestone in Indian club football.

“It was very, very special,” Bheke said. “Not only to get that goal but also the win and to do something nobody had done before. It was a proud moment for my family and friends back home as well.”

Home is where Bheke is happy to have returned. After making his professional debut with Air India and playing for his city team in the I-League, Bheke signed up for East Bengal in 2015. Loaned to Kerala Blasters and Pune City for a couple of years, Bheke was picked by new entrants Bengaluru FC in the 2017-18 ISL player draft. That’s where he shone, with not just his defensive skills but also five goals and two assists in the 70 matches for the club in the league. His fruitful 2018-19 season, with the title-winning header the icing on the cake, earned Bheke a maiden national call-up and an India debut in June 2019 against Curacao in the King’s Cup.

Last August, Mumbai City roped him from Bengaluru on a two-year contract, which the defender felt extra special signing. “It was after six years that I was in a Mumbai club. It’s always a dream playing for your home team and I’m happy how this season has gone. I’ve helped my team in whatever way possible—defending, keeping a clean sheet, assisting or scoring goals.”

Bheke had 56 clearances in 18 matches for Mumbai City in ISL this term to go with two goals and assists each. Along with captain Mourtada Fall at the back, Bheke played his part in Mumbai City keeping six clean sheets in the season, the third most by a club. “Fall is the top goal-scorer as a defender in ISL and I’ve learnt a lot from him. I make sure I pick up and keep doing the things he does, like whenever he goes up in set-pieces and scores goals. Also the defending aspect, he is very calm and has that leadership quality.”

Bheke is 31, yet terms like learning and development still hold prominence in his football dictionary. “In these six years, I’ve played in different positions. In Bengaluru, I played centre-back and right-back; at times even left-back. Here (in Mumbai City), I’ve played as a left centre-back and sometimes right centre-back.

“Coming into ISL from I-League, I have seen the way foreign players work on and off the field. Even the coaches, the different game styles and training methods they adopt. All of that has helped me grow as a player,” said Bheke, who last month scored his first international goal in India’s 1-2 defeat to Bahrain in a friendly.

Bheke cast his mind back to the inaugural ISL edition. He had accompanied his friends to watch the 2014 title clash between Atletico de Kolkata and Kerala Blasters at the DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai. “If I look back at that 2014 final when I was watching from the stands to where I am today playing the AFC Champions League, it makes me incredibly happy. I’m really blessed that I’m part of this journey where I’m constantly growing as a player. I will make sure I keep growing.”

Bheke hopes his homecoming to Mumbai City is a long affair. “I’m looking forward to playing for my home team, for as many years as possible.”