The Hindu : Sport / Football : Kerala is champion

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Nov 01, 2004

Sport

Sport - Football

Kerala is champion

By Vijay Lokapally

NEW DELHI, OCT. 31. One was, literally, in God's own country. The Kerala flavour was unmistakable, in the stands and on the field. The glorious footballers of the southern state had advanced the Kerala Day celebration with a 3-2 extra-time victory over Punjab at the Ambedkar Stadium here on Sunday. The National Football Championship culminated with a pulsating encounter, and the Santosh Trophy resting with its rightful owners until the next edition of the tournament.

The magnificent response from the spectators, every seat occupied, set up the tempo and the teams created a stirring contest, clean and racy, satiating the appetite of the audience on a day of entertaining football. There was not a dull moment in this exhilarating tussle to dominate and therein lay the tribute to Kerala and Punjab. They deserved salutations for raising the quality of the game quite a few notches.Each team will have a tale to live with. Punjab conceded the lead, but hit back.

Then it was Kerala which fell in arrears before recovering in time to finish the regulation period on even terms. And then, in an agonizing moment for its supporters, Kerala messed up a penalty through Lenal Thomas a minute from the time. His forlorn figure sprung to life when S. Ignatius, who was the man of the match, buried Punjab with a curling long-ranger in extra time. Kerala defended flawlessly in the remaining 13 minutes and as referee Rizwan-ul-Haq blew the final whistle, it was time for the spectators to invade the field and hoist their heroes.

Matured performance

"A victory for the boys and the public," gushed manager C. C. Jacob. And for the game too, because Kerala, barring the short phase in which it conceded two goals, gave a matured performance. Skills and tactics were combined by Kerala to gain the benefits of playing like a team and Punjab, for all its hard work, was not the better team this day.

It was a vastly improved Punjab team from what one has seen in the past few years in terms of behaviour but it just ran out of steam in the extra time when Kerala enjoyed superior ball possession and control of the midfield.

It was always going to be taxing for Punjab, considering the overall strength of its opposition. Once again, Abdul Naushad towered over the rest with his versatile presence in all positions but the pick of the lot was the gangling Abdul Basheer at the back.

The hustling tactics of Gurjit Singh Atwal and Harvinder Singh made no impact on this immensely confident defender and his role in Kerala's victory will remain second to none. He was almost impossible to beat this afternoon.

"Atwal and Harvinder were completely off-colour," admitted Punjab coach Parminder Singh. All because of Basheer's excellent policing of the Punjab strikers.

Remarkable consistency

Shabeer Ali, Naushad, Thomas and Bijesh Ben displayed remarkable consistency in the midfield and kept Punjab on a tight leash. Ignatius and Abdul Hakeem were a constant menace upfront. The defence did a grand job with K. Bineesh, Jaseer Karanath, Abdul Basheer and K. Sameer making Punjab forwards toil right through. All these will be household names soon in Kerala. Also medio N.P. Pradeep. He missed this match on suspension but played his part well until that shattering moment in the semifinal.

Punjab had its men, but not the kind who could transform the fate of the contest. Sukhjinder Singh played his heart out in the middle, but lacked support. Harish Sharma was simply outstanding with his breathtaking overlapping and sturdy defence. Hardeep Gill was vigorous and led quite a few raids and it was a pity he ended up a loser. Jaspal Singh contributed immensely in the defence and Gurpreet Singh in the middle.

Baldeep Singh showed impressive endurance until he limped out to weaken the midfield. But Punjab lost control when it mattered.

In the eleventh minute, Bijesh struck when his ambitious shot floated in and the goalkeeper, Kameshwar Singh, gripped the aerial threat but overstepped the goalline.

"I was pushed (by Hakeem)," contested Kameshwar. But Rizwan blew towards the centre. He was sure the goal was clean. There was protest from Punjab, but it died down quickly. They had to get on with the game.

Punjab resorted to long ball tactics but Kerala frustrated it repeatedly as Basheer often rose to snuff those threats.

Goalkeeper M.V. Nelson too did a creditable job by charging out to meet the challenge. But two minutes into the second half Punjab struck when, following a free-kick, Gill controlled the loose ball outside the box and sank it into the Kerala goal.

Four minutes later, Kerala paid the price for being slack when a throw in from Daljit was headed in impeccably by Harpreet. But Punjab's joy lasted a mere four minutes.

Naushad produced a dream flag kick, the ball sneaking in past a dazzled Kameshwar. "I thought I had it covered but it curled unexpectedly," mumbled the Punjab goalkeeper. This was a poor show by any standards.

Kerala had by now regained its rhythm and Jaspal and Harpreet were stretched by the unrelenting Kerala attacks. Action shifted ends when Gurjit failed to tap in a low cross.

It was a providential escape for Kerala. Soon it was Punjab's turn. With a minute left, Hakeem ran in daintily, splitting the Punjab defence, and was poised to strike when Harpeet gave him an unwise charge. A penalty was awarded. This was the chance for Kerala and Thomas. But the goalkeeper blocked his initial attempt and the rebound was incredibly booted over by Thomas.

In extra time, Ignatius, capitalising on a defensive lapse, produced a priceless, curling shot which beat the outstretched arm of Kameshwar.

Kerala, the most disciplined team in the tournament, wore the crown amidst joyous scenes. It deserved the result every bit — the players, and their passionate supporters.

The teams:

Kerala: M.V. Nelson (gk), K. Bineesh (Naushad Pari), Abdul Basheer, K. Sameer, Jaseer Karanath, Lenal Thomas, Abdul Naushad, Shabeer Ali (Ebin Rose), Bijesh Ben, Abdul Hakeem and S. Ignatius.

Punjab: Kameshwar Singh (gk), Tapan Bhattacharya (Daljit Singh), Jaspal Singh, Harish Sharma, Harpreet Singh, Baldeep Singh (Manjit Singh), Sukhjinder Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Harvinder Singh, Gurjit Singh Atwal and Hardeep Gill.

Referee: Rizwan-ul-Haq; Linesmen: Benjamin D'Silva and Arjunan.

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