The usually tranquil area around the football stadium in Kerala’s Manjeri town, Malappuram district, comes alive only during match days. So, whenever a Santosh Trophy game happened this time in the stadium, the settings of the deserted place transformed into that of the ubiquitous temple fairs in the State, courtesy of the energy and enthusiasm of the soccer-mad crowd in this part of Kerala. Considering the frenzied atmosphere during the final, the final outcome was nothing but spectacular with Kerala emerging victorious against Bengal, the most successful team in the tournament, in a penalty shoot-out (5-4) to lift the coveted trophy for the seventh time. The match was almost similar to the Santosh Trophy final between the two teams in 2018 that also went in favour of Kerala after the mandatory penalty shootouts (4-2).
Unshakeable Faith Of The Crowd Rejuvenated The Home Team
Apart from the players of the victorious team, even the crowd should also be given their due as they never stopped believing in their team, even when they were struggling to score the equalizer and were trailing 1-0 to Bengal during the extra time. It was only in the 116th minute that the score was equalized by Muhammed Safnad of Kerala after it looked certain that Bengal’s 33rd title was clearly within their reach. The moment Safnad hit the target through a cross, the crowd in the stadium started believing that this was going to be the home team’s day.
When the scoreline read 1-1 after the extra time it brought back memories of 2018 final, which was also decided via penalties. For a change, the home team opted for Hajmal S instead of the regular goalie Midhun V for the penalty shootouts. For Kerala, none of the strikers missed any of the penalty kicks but Bengal wasted one chance and that totally sealed latter’s fate. As the triumphant moment arrived there was an explosion of emotions, ecstasy and celebration inside the stadium, even the Wankhede final of the 2011 Cricket World Cup paled in comparison.
“Most of you would have thought that we had lost the game. But we came back because we are the Kerala team. We have not lost a game in the tournament because of the people and their support for us. I thank them and thank my boys. The win is theirs,” Kerala coach Bino George, expressing gratitude towards the supportive crowd, stated at the end of the match.
Ended The Almost Three-Decade-long Home Drought
This turned out to be Kerala’s third triumph in their backyard with the other two coming in 1973-74 and 1992-93 Kochi editions. Hence, the team led by Jijo Joseph finally ended the dry spell of 29 years on home soil in style. Unarguably, they had a perfect tournament where they hardly lost any game, barring a 2-2 draw against Meghalaya. Also, by beating Bengal in the final, Kerala have managed to equalise (2-2) in the head-to-head final clashes against the former. Fittingly, the victory even turned out to be a perfect tribute to the legendary B Devanand, member of the victorious Santosh Trophy outfit of 1993, who passed away in Kochi last week.
Youngsters Join The Party & Justify Captain’s Faith
Kerala’s successful campaign this year in the tournament is all the more special as this time the outfit was packed mostly with youngsters, Jijo and Midhun being the two exceptions. Deservedly, the captain Jijo will be feeling vindicated as he fully backed the young outfit to come good and it did exactly the same with a near dominant performance in the latest edition of the tournament. The fantabulous campaign of Kerala has also brought to the fore their burgeoning home-grown talents such as Jijo, Jesin, Noufal PN etc, who would have been observed closely by all the sides in the Indian Super League. And it won’t be a surprise if most of them, at least, make their way into any of the teams in the much sought-after football league in India.
Lastly,
The tournament also progressed smoothly despite the rampant threat of the Coronavirus. Even the matches, mostly, attracted a good crowd, an ideal advertisement for the game going forward. However, the All India Football Federation could have done something to avoid the choc-a-bloc schedule, where the majority of the teams were found to be in action on alternate days. Nevertheless, a minor blemish in an otherwise spectacular tournament.
