When Arif Aiman’s low-cross across the box was turned into his own net by Ulsan Hyundai defender Park Yong-woo, Johor Darul Ta’zim’s palatial Sultan Ibrahim Stadium almost burst at the seems.
As fans spontaneously erupted in celebration, the JDT players and staff below them were in a similar state of ecstasy. It was a moment that the fans will have lived over and over again in their minds, remembering every minute detail of such an historic occasion for the club.
But for the mastermind of that momentous occasion, JDT’s Mexican coach Benjamin Mora, the moment is a blur.
Talking to The Asian Game Podcast three months after that historic moment, and just days after announcing his unexpected departure from the club, Mora says a doesn’t remember the moment that will live in JDT folklore forever.
“I don’t remember,” he says when asked what he was feeling when the Arif’s cross was turned into the net.
“I remember starting to run and jump before it crossed the line, because I saw that there was no way that nobody can stop that ball going in. So I saw (that) and I started to run, and from that moment until Leandro approached me and hugged me. I don’t remember. I don’t have a memory.
“It was just like total euphoric ecstasy. I don’t know I was in another place. I was flying, and when I got Leandro, I told him ‘thank you very much, thank you very much’ and then the staff came and then I started to congratulate the players.
“And I was just euphoric. I didn’t I didn’t know what’s going on. I saw the fans crying, I saw TMJ crying, I saw Martin Prest crying. My family was crying in the box, it was like oh my god. I don’t know if if I’m going to have a moment like that (again) in my career. I hope I will because I love it.”
Having experienced such euphoria, and with a mouthwatering Round of 16 clash with two-time AFC Champions League winners Urawa Reds on the horizon, it seems unfathomable that Mora should choose now to walk away, but that is exactly what he has done.
Mora explained that he just knew the time was right.
“I never want to leave JDT,” the 43-year-old said. “I mean, if you asked me, I can go 200 more games with with JDT. But you never know when the time is right. You never know when you have to make the decision. You never know whether the cycle is over, or is finished, or is a little bit damaged at the time and in (context with) other situations, personal situations, family situations, club situations.
“If you go now, what are you going to miss tomorrow, or the next month if you go tomorrow?. So you make the decision, you talk to the management and and that’s it. It’s over. But it’s very difficult, it was very difficult to make the final decision.
“But we all know that every cycle in life has a beginning and has an ending.”
Having spent seven formative years at the club, working across both the senior and second teams, Mora leaves behind a strong legacy os success, one he is convinced will continue long after he departs.
“The legacy for me is that to leave something behind, to leave seven years of success,” he said.
“Actually…qualifying for the next round of ACL, that for me is a massive achievement, because we need to remember JDT was a winner before I was here and JDT will continue to win without me.
“It’s not about me, I will just a piece of the puzzle.”
HRH Crown Prince of Johor, better known as ‘TMJ’, and JDT are now synonymous with each other given the future Sultan’s hands on roll in turning the club into the glistening, success-craved entity it is today.
Working for royalty, and one so accustomed to success, comes with its own unique set of pressures. But reflecting on his relationship with TMJ, Mora was euphisive in his adulation.
“He has a very good mindset of what he has to do for his people,” Mora explained.
“So he is always looking after the joy and the happiness of the of the people. So from football, he tries to give you the joy of winning, because he wants people to be happy.
“He is very demanding in every way. He also is very demanding in my task as a father with my daughters, he is also very demanding as my task as a husband with my wife, as a family man. So he helped me a lot in many, many ways on the human side and the professional side.
“He is very generous. Whenever you need something, whenever you have a problem, whenever you are in a different state of mind emotionally, he tries his best to help you with his tools, with his people, with his family. So he’s a very, very kind man.
“He is a dreamer. He is always dreaming of doing things. He’s always creating the reality by his thoughts. He’s very intelligent, because he was taught to be a leader. He was taught to be a Crown Prince. And of course, next he is going to be a Sultan.
“So he has his power, he has his personality, and he has his character. And his temper, of course, because you cannot be a leader if you’re not temperamental and if you are not really trying to achieve things on a daily basis.
“So for me he’s one of the best persons I ever met in my life.”
With JDT’s crunch Round of 16 encounter with Urawa, to be played at Urawa’s iconic Saitama Stadium, a little over a week away, Mora is convinced he leaves the squad in good enough shape to create yet another shock in this year’s tournament.
“For me, I leave the team in the best position possible,” he said.
“I’m going to miss going to Urawa to try to beat them again, I mean, to try to beat a Japanese team again. But I know the team is very strong. I know the players are very good players.
“I know the (new) coach is a good coach, I met him and I wish that he can find a way to win the game, because the only thing I want is for JDT to continue being successful even more than then when I was the manager.”
One thing is for certain, when he is back at home in Mexico watching on, if JDT win against Urawa he will remember every second of this one.
Photo: IG/officialjohor
Listen to our one-on-one with outgoing JDT coach Benjamin Mora
