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Santosh Trophy: Bengal ready for surprise package Karnataka; Kerala fancied vs Mizoram in semis

Bengal will battle surprise package Karnataka for a spot in the final of the Senior National Football Championship for the 72nd Santosh Trophy.

By Aravind
Bengal players at a training session ahead of their Santosh Trophy 2018 semi-final against Karnataka (Image: AIFF Media)

Howrah, March 29: Bengal will battle surprise package Karnataka for a spot in the final of the Senior National Football Championship for the 72nd Santosh Trophy in their semi-final at the Sailen Manna Stadium in Howrah on Friday (March 30). The match kicks-off at 2.30 pm.

Karnataka's presence in the semifinal could hardly have been expected at the start of the tournament. Yet they fully deserve to step out against Bengal, who will start the favourites.

Bengal, the defending champions, began their final round campaign with a comprehensive victory over Manipur followed by easy wins over Maharashtra and Chandigarh, before losing their final group game against Kerala.

However, Bengal coach Ranjan Chowdhury does not seem to be perturbed by the defeat that came right before the semifinal. The former striker stays confident ahead of the pre-summit clash and fancies his team's chances against Karnataka.

Bengal Santosh Trophy coach Ranjan Chowdhury (right) with his assistant (Image: AIFF Media)

"A semifinal match is more tricky than the final itself because when you lose it, it becomes a matter of so close yet so far. It's an important game but at the end of the day, it's just another game and we need to play good football to win." Ranjan Chowdhury said on the eve of the clash.

Measuring the opponents' strengths he added, "Karnataka is a good team. They qualified for the semifinals due to their quality.'

"Karnataka has a lot of good players and we expect a very tough game, which will be very demanding physically. So, we must prepare well. Several players of Karnataka appear in the second division I-League. They are physically dominant, fast, strong and will be good opponents. It is for us to achieve a positive result."

On the other hand, Karnataka, who won the Santosh Trophy last time in 1968/69 as Mysore, topped Group B after beating teams like Goa, Odisha and Mizoram. Karnataka's success in the competition has been based on their dogged determination and defensive organisation, which make up for their lack of fire-power upfront.


Kerala fancied against Mizoram

Kerala appear a confident lot ahead of their semi-final against Mizoram (Image: AIFF Media)

In the other match, Kerala and Mizoram will square off at the Mohun Bagan Ground on Friday. Kerala have been dominant since the start of the competition. The former five-time champions started off with a victory over Chandigarh before beating Manipur, Maharashtra and hosts Bengal in subsequent matches.

The Satheevan Balan-coached side is not only the highest scoring side in the competition but they also holds the best defensive record. Kerala have scored 15 goals enroute to the semifinal and in bargain just conceded once.

Kerala last won the Santosh Trophy in 2005, and will fancy their chances of a first title in the current decade if they can overcome the North Easterners.

Mizoram, have shown improvement with each game. Altough they lost their last Group B against Karnataka, but they rested as many eight of their regular starters, in a bid to keep them fresh and all of them will be handed starts in the semifinal.


Source: AIFF Media

Story first published: Thursday, March 29, 2018, 17:56 [IST]
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