For Neymar faithful, even without Brazilian star in Mumbai it was a day to remember

Mumbai City FC coach Des Buckingham was left puzzled with a question on the eve of their AFC Asian Champions League (ACL) clash against Al Hilal at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. The question posed was this: despite Mumbai being the home team, were they prepared to not enjoy a majority of the support from the 30 thousand-odd fans that were expected?

The question may have sounded odd but it was quite the case on Monday. Mumbai faced Saudi Arabian giants Al Hilal who boast of an impressive squad, headlined by the talismanic Neymar Jr. The hope to see the Brazilian play a competitive game in India created such a huge buzz that Mumbai had to shift their home venue from the 10,000-seater Balewadi Stadium in Pune to the 40k+ seater DY Patil Stadium.

Just five days after tickets went on sale though, Neymar injured himself during Brazil’s 2-0 loss against Uruguay in Montevideo last month. Having to undergo surgery on his ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and meniscus in his left knee, he was ruled out of the tie. Needless to say, the fans who booked tickets were devastated with many even trying to resell their ticket, even on matchday.

Buckingham’s response to the question was that while he couldn’t control who the crowd supported, he wished that having booked the tickets, they would come to watch the match and be impressed by the way his side played. “Hope to convert fans,” is what he said.

And he would be impressed by the way his team played. Having lost the away fixture to Al-Hilal 6-0 last month, his team displayed some resolute defending for the first 60 minutes. But after going a man down courtesy of a second yellow for a needless tackle by defender Mehtab Singh in the 54th minute, Buckingham’s team lost the