The Hindu : Sport / Football : ‘This team is capable of winning Santosh Trophy’

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‘This team is capable of winning Santosh Trophy’

P. K. Ajith Kumar

The way the boys rose to the occasion in the Nayanar Gold Cup was heartening, says Victor Manjila

AIMING HIGH: The Kerala team members with coach Victor Manjila at Thrissur on Wednesday.

KOZHIKODE: At the E.K. Nayanar Gold Cup football tournament at Kannur last month, Kerala XI, a team made up of the State’s Santosh Trophy probables, was expected to be mauled by its Brazilian rival Ferroviaria in the opening match. Lose the Kerala boys certainly did (by just a solitary goal), but not before scaring their mighty opponents.

Promising beginning

It indeed was a promising beginning for Victor Manjila, Kerala coach for the Santosh Trophy. If the team performed like a well-oiled machine at Kannur, and played with purpose, the former Indian goalkeeper could certainly take credit for that.

“That performance in the Nayanar Gold Cup gave me a lot of confidence,” Victor told The Hindu over telephone from Thrissur, where the Kerala team has been preparing for the Santosh Trophy in Jammu & Kashmir. “It was a very young, mostly inexperienced team that played at Kannur and the way the boys rose to the occasion was heartening. Players like K.V. Lalu and M.V. Kalesh were a revelation. I was also impressed with the performances of Jacken Sebastian and Bijesh Ben. Unfortunately, Kalesh is not well and won’t play in Srinagar.”

“Abdul Hakkim and Jean Christian will not be there, either; they are nursing injuries. I don’t think their absence will hurt the team much; we still have a very good team,” says Victor. “The team, I would say, is a nice blend of youth and experience.”

The coach says his first target is a semifinal berth. “We have been reaching the semifinals regularly for the last few years. To maintain that is my first aim. Then it’s a matter of two games, the semifinal and the final. This team is certainly capable of bringing the Santosh Trophy back to Kerala.”

He reckons Kerala would face the stiffest challenge from Punjab, Goa, Bengal, Maharashtra and Manipur. “These teams look formidable and any of them can win the title.”

Kerala, seeded directly into quarterfinals, opens its campaign on June 5.

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