The Hindu : Sport / Football : Intense battle on the cards

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Monday, Nov 27, 2006
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Intense battle on the cards

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The strength and form of their foreign players would dictate the course of the match as Dempo Sports Club (Goa) and JCT Mills (Phagwara) prepare for the final of the Osian's Durand Cup football tournament here.

Having progressed thus far, JCT would expect its trio of Chidi Edeh, Sunday Ambrose and Adebayo Tokunbo to control Dempo's Majek Bolaji, Robert `Beto' Silva and Ranty Martins in what is likely to be an intense battle on Monday.

The tournament has shown that teams with tested foreigners can do well. Mahindras United, East Bengal and Mohun Bagan lost direction after promising much but JCT and Dempo have managed to stick to an effective combination.

Bolaji has been a towering figure in the Dempo ranks.

In comparison, Ambrose has been used sparingly by JCT coach Sukhwinder Singh.However, the thrust has come from Chidi, who has stood out with his opportunism and excellent positional play.

`Beto,' the inspiration

Dempo can draw motivation from the presence of `Beto', the reliable Brazilian midfielder with an astonishing ability to create space and chances with his electric movements.

The final would demand a consistent performance from Parveen Kumar, the hard working JCT striker and the pair of Harpreet Singh and Baldeep Singh in the defence. But the focus would be on Chidi and `Beto', two players capable of swinging the contest on the basis of their individual brilliance.

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