Santosh Trophy Final: Manipur vs Bengal, A Battle of ‘Unequals’

By Prasanta Mazumdar

Guwahati, May 30 : It will be a contest between experience and exuberance when defending champions Bengal take on Manipur in the final of 65th Santosh Trophy for National Football Championships at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Guwahati on Monday.

Manipur have got a young side with the average age of the players being 23.

In contrast, the Bengal players are vastly experienced with some of them playing for Kolkata’s premier clubs such as Chirag United, East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting.

“We know they are a very experienced side. But we are equally good otherwise we wouldn’t have been in the final,” Manipur coach S Ekendra Singh told DNA.

So far, Manipur’s show in this edition of the tournament has been excellent. They rallied to hold Bengal to a 2-2 draw in a quarterfinal league match. They beat Services by an extra time goal in the semifinal.

However, their biggest worry has been poor finishing. “We know we are not doing well upfront. But tomorrow is a different day and the players are raring to go. We are hoping for the best,” the Manipur coach said.

Unlike Bengal, Manipur do not have any injury worries. “We don’t have any fitness problem. (Midfielder) Thoiba Singh isn’t playing tomorrow because of double booking,” he added.

Manipur had won the Santosh Trophy in 2002 defeating Bengal. They have budding talents in the likes of strikers Nilakumar Singh, Tiken Singh, Jimmy Singh and midfielders Santosh Singh, Herojit Singh etc.

Bengal coach Shabbir Ali also spoke very highly of the Manipur players.

“We aren’t underestimating them. They are physically very strong. Besides, most of their players have played at national level,” he said.

Ali said Bengal could not play with their full strength as the clubs did not release the star players because of I League.

“(Striker) Francis Xavier and (defender)) Suman Dey are doubtful starter for the final owing to injuries. We’ll take a call on them tomorrow,” Ali said.

“However, we still have some key players such as (defender) Anupam Sarkar, (midfielders) Snehasish Dutta and Santosh Oraon,” the Bengal coach said.

Bengal scrapped past the Railways by a solitary goal to make it to the final for the 45th time. They won the title 30 times.