Tuesday, Nov 11, 2003
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Football
By Our Special Correspondent
The Salgaocar team which won the Durand Cup football tournament in New Delhi on Monday.
In front of a near capacity crowd, Salgaocar defeated the defending champion East Bengal 4-3 in the tie-break after the teams were locked 1-1 at the end of the regulation period and extra-time. After two hours of intense action, Rajat Ghosh looked calm, as he chatted with a four-year-old kid, who incidentally was clothed in East Bengal colours, putting his arm around the wanderer in a friendly fashion, before the teams assembled for the penalty shoot-out. That calmness paid eventually, as Rajat dived in front to block Bhutia and then dived to his right to deny Okoro, who had attempted to convert the fourth and fifth penalties in the shoot-off. Rajat stood up in celebration, and ran for joy before he was chased and smothered by his delirious teammates. East Bengal paid for letting things drift that far. The team had perhaps taken its supremacy for granted, or it was genuinely concerned about Bhutia's level of fitness as it kept the star forward on the sidelines till about eight minutes into extra time. The introduction of Bhutia infused life into the proceedings.A minute into the field, Bhutia was quick to take a shot off K. Kulothungan pass, but the goalkeeper deflected it away. Salgaocar brought off the first goal in the 14th minute of the second half, as Tomba Singh unleashed a fierce free kick that sailed over the goalkeeper into the cage. East Bengal recovered ground with an equaliser two minutes later, as Okoro's floater from the right was ably headed into the target by Mahesh Gawli. Thereafter, both the teams tried to clinch the match-winner with a few delightful moves that captured the imagination of the crowd, but a goal proved elusive despite the best of efforts. Salgaocar could have clinched it in the second half of extra-time, but the East Bengal skipper Suley Musah thwarted a combined attempt by Jatin Bisht and Climax Lawrence. Once the match moved into the tie-break, Musah converted his first shot and went out to the sidelines to fetch a bottle, much to the chagrin of the referee. On his return, he was busy praying feverishly, alternately in the kneeling and standing positions, looking away from the action at the goalmouth. After Malsaw M. Tluanga and Chandan Das had followed Musah with successful conversions, Bhutia and Okoro were thwarted by Rajat Ghosh Dastidar, as gloom descended on the East Bengal camp. For Salgaocar, Climax Lawrence and Tomba Singh gave a good start with neat conversions, but Jatin Bisht shot wide to put the team under pressure. However, Dharamjit Singh and Felix Ibrebru converted their shots to regain the momentum and a fight till the finish. When Okoro went to take, what proved to be the last shot of the championship, some in the crowd shouted that Salgaocar could start its celebration. For, that was the level of confidence the Nigerian had infused in the ranks in this edition. He ran, stopped and restarted to take a shot that was well read by Rajat and squarely blocked, making him the real hero of the match. Salgaocar had won the title for the first time in 1999, beating East Bengal, in the tie-break, after the teams had tied goalless. This was indeed a much superior performance in comparison. Vimal Pariyar (TFA), Stanley Colaco (Dempo), Abdul Rauf Khan (Mahindra United), Dharamjit Singh (Salgaocar) and K. Kulothungan (East Bengal) were adjudged the `promising players', while the award for the best coach, went to Bimal Ghosh of Air India.
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