West Bengal and Kerala will clash in the finals of the men's football tournament in the National Games 2022. West Bengal reached the final after defeating Services by a solitary goal while Kerala comfortably defeated their southern counterparts Karnataka in the semifinal on Sunday.
Coached by former India striker Biswajit Bhattacharya, West Bengal reached the final by defeating Services 1-0. Surajit Hansda put Bengal ahead in the first half of the match. That score stood till the end. West Bengal defeated Punjab 2-1 in the first match of the group league. After that, they won against Gujarat by a big margin of 3-1. West Bengal reached the semi-finals by winning two matches in a row, thrashing Karnataka 3-1 in the last match of the group league.
Although, Coach Biswajit Bhattacharya jumped into the National Games 2022 with high hopes of a bunch of bright new talented faces. From the beginning of the tournament, those new faces were perfect for West Bengal. Back-to-back wins from the very beginning of the tournament boosted the confidence of the boys severalfold. The Bengal boys maintained the dominance even in the semi-final match.
In Sunday's semi-final against Services, Bengal took the lead in 25 minutes of the match. Surajit Hansda scored the goal and that goal reached them into the final. The goal of the team is to return from Gujarat to become the champion in the national games 2022.
West Bengal will face Kerala in the final. Kerala defeated Karnataka in the first semi-final. Meanwhile, Surajit, the only goal scorer of the match, got seriously injured during the match. In the second half, he was pushed from behind and was immediately sent off the field. The situation was serious and he was taken to the hospital. His injury before the final has left the entire team worried.
East Bengal FC will face Hyderabad FC in the first match of Group A in the Kalinga Super Cup 2024 on 9th January at the Kalinga Stadium. Hyderabad hasn't registered a victory in the 2023-24 ISL so far and is sitting at the bottom of the table after playing 11 games. Meanwhile, East Bengal has performed brilliantly defensively but has failed to score goals regularly. The Kolkata-based club is hanging 8th in the table with 2 victories, 5 draws, and 3 losses.
With both teams eyeing a victory in their first match, this encounter promises to be an exciting one. Carles Cuadrat would love to see his team scoring goals which he expected after seeing East Bengal score 5 against NorthEast. Since then, Cuadrad's side hasn't scored any goals and played three 0-0 draws.
On the other side, Hyderabad FC has failed to replicate what they did last season in the ISL. The fans are expecting to witness their favourite club fighting positively for the first time this season when they face the Red & Gold Brigade at the Kalinga Stadium on Tuesday.
Match Details:
East Bengal vs Hyderabad - Venue: Kalinga Stadium, Odisha Image - Wikipedia
Fixture: East Bengal vs Hyderabad: Kalinga Super Cup 2024
Where can we watch the East Bengal vs Hyderabad match?
All the matches of the Kalinga Super Cup 2024 including the East Bengal vs Hyderabad will be televised on Sports18 channel in India. Moreover, fans can watch the match on Jio Cinema as well.
The Red and Gold brigade has put in a lot of effort defensively and given a tough fight to their opponents but have missed lots of opportunities in front of the goal. Cuadrat will hope for his Brazilian striker Cleiton Silva to replicate his league form in the Kalinga Super Cup 2024. Cleiton has scored 5 goals in the league and can be the differencemaker against Hyderabad FC on Tuesday.
East Bengal FC players practicing ahead of the East Bengal vs Hyderabad Super Cup clash Image - East Bengal FC
Mandar Rao Desai might miss tomorrow's match. He didn't practice today. East Bengal would be expecting Nandha Kumar Sekar to create chances for the forwards. The 28-year-old creator has scored 2 goals and provided 3 assists in the league. Naorem MaheshSingh has also scored 2 goals in10 appearances in the league. Lalchungnunga and Naorem Mahesh will miss the game due to the call-up he received from the National Team.
East Bengal head coach Carles Cuadrat Image - East Bengal FC
Hyderabad FC
Hyderabad are struggling with financial issues. Their on-field and off-field problems have merged and it's not a positive atmosphere in the Nizam's camp right now. Hyderabad will miss the attacking power of Jonathan Moya. He left the club to join Liga Deportiva Alajuelense.
They will miss the likes of Nikhil Poojary who has been called up for the national team for the upcoming Asia Cup 2023. Hyderabad would like to register their first victory of the season but it wouldn't be easy against the defensively solid, East Bengal side.
On Monday, September 26, the Reserve Bank Employees Sports Club felicitated with a collection amount of Rupees 8 lakhs to Mr. Damodor Barik, who served the club as a Mali (Gardner) for nearly 25 years. Back on 31st March 2022, Mr. Barik took retirement from his work. So, the club as the association decided to felicitate him for his enormous contribution to the club.
Mr. Damodar Barik was senior Mali for the RBI Employees Sports Club. The club and the RBI organizations collected an amount of 8 lakhs which also includes the club's donation that was handed over to Mr. Barik. However, the total amount was divided and handed through many senior citizen schemes.
All the RBI employees including Secretary Mr. Samir Ghosh were present at the event. The event was held inside the club premises from 4 PM onwards. Moreover, RBI sports club secretary, Mr. Partha Pratim Roy, and RBI Kolkata Secretary Mr. Srimanta Mitra also attended the event.
Ex-cricketer and Employee Mr. Satyendra Singh were also present on that day. Meanwhile, Abdul Monayem and many ex-footballers like Nasir Ahmed, Falguni Dutta, and many more also attended the event.
Damodar Barik was the Senior Gardner (Mali) of Reserve Bank Employees Sports Club
The Event invitation proposal which was sent to Mr. Barik on September 23
Mr. Damodar Barik was the Senior Gardner (Mali), who used to organize various programs throughout the year besides his work. He joined on July 1, 1997, as a jr. Gardner. Currently, he is 64 years old. He submitted a letter dated 31st December 2021 seeking voluntary retirement and appealing for lump-sum monetary assistance by which he can earn some amount periodically for his livelihood.
Considering his age and physical condition, Sports Club accepted his resignation letter. Moreover, they relieved him from his service on April 1, 2022.
In the tune of the golden tradition of standing beside Mali (Gardner) for monetary help, the club decided to the lump-sum amount. They requested their members, players, and retired colleagues to donate spontaneously an appropriate amount. Meanwhile, as a result, they collect around 8 lakhs which was handed over to Mr. Barik on Monday. The sports club and its organization thanked each and every one who donated to the noble cause.
Santosh Trophy is an Indian domestic football competition contested by the regional state associations and government institutions under the All India Football Federation (AIFF).
Santosh Trophy, the Hero Senior National Football Championship is held every year since it was founded in 1941. The tournament, however, was not held in 2019-20 and 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and finally it returned for Santosh Trophy 2022 in Kerala.
The tournament features 37 teams that are divided into five zones - North, South, East, West and North East, who go through qualifiers to progress to the main round, which features group and knock-out rounds.
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) May 2, 2022
In the 75 editions held till 2022, West Bengal is the most successful side with 32 wins and 14 runners up finishes for a total of 46 final appearances. The next best side in Santosh Trophy is Punjab, who have made a total of 16 final appearances and won the title 8 times.
Kerala and Services are the next best teams with 7 and 6 title wins respectively, while Goa (5), Maharashtra (4), Karnataka (4), Railways (3) and Andra Pradesh (3) have also won the title multiple times. Delhi, Manipur and Mizoram have won the title once so far.
Santosh Trophy was first introduced in the year 1941. The trophy was named in honor of the Maharaja Sir Manmatha Nath Roy Chowdhary of Santosh (the location is currently located in Bangladesh). At the time, he was the president of the Indian Football Association, the football governing body of Bengal, and also the person who donated the trophy.
Image- Sportz Point.
Durand Cup, Rovers Cup, Kalinga cup, and many more were other trophies that clubs competed to take home. But the Santosh remained the top most coveted among them all.
It was the award where the states showcased their finest talent, and the public pinned them on their high expectations. States and teams were required to organize camps for weeks, with the top trainers. The top players were picked from the crowd.
The teams are now grouped into eight groups, each with three or four teams. The eight group winners are then picked, along with four seeded teams that do not have to compete in the qualifying phase, and these twelve teams are divided into three groups of three. The quarter-final stage precedes the semi-final and final stages.
Kerala wins the Santosh Trophy 2022 (Image- Onmanrama)
Most Successful Santosh Trophy winning team?
Bengal has won the title record 32 times, beating second-placed Punjab which has been crowned on eight occasions.
Kerala has just won Santosh Trophy 2022 to take their tally to 7 times. The significance of the Trophy has dwindled over time. The National Football League, which began in 1996, is often credited for this.
Kerala were crowned champions of the 75th Santosh Trophy 2022 at the Payyanad Stadium in Manjeri, Malappuram on Monday after a thrilling penalty shootout.
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) May 2, 2022
At the end of a dramatic final, Kerala edged West Bengal 5-4. The match was tied 1-1 in regulation time. Substitute Sajal Bag had missed Bengal's second spot kick while Kerala converted all five of theirs to triumph.
It is Kerala's seventh Santosh Trophy.
Earlier, Kerala had crawled their way back with a 116th minute equaliser to force penalties after Bengal had taken the lead in the first half of extra time.
Bibin Ajayan will a 116 minute equalizer for Kerala (Image-AIFF Twitter)
Dilip Orawn had thought he had won it for Bengal, but substitute Ajayan stepped up to head in a late equaliser as the home crowd went berserk.
Earlier, in normal time, both sides got plenty of chances to score, as they played some exciting end-to-end football in the finals of Santosh Trophy 2022.
In the shootout, Bengal had to pay dearly for missing out on its second attempt, from Sajal Bag. All the other kicks went in. When the last of those kicks, taken by Kerala's M. Faslurahman, kissed the right top corner, the stadium erupted once again.
The last time they bagged the trophy was during the 2017/18 season when they defeated the same opponents in the penalty shootout at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.
The last time Kerala had lifted a Santosh Trophy on home soil was in 1993. Back then, Kerala had defeated Maharashtra 2-0 in the final that was played at the Maharaja's College Ground in Ernakulam.
West Bengal, who are the most successful team in the history of the competition with 32 titles, lost their 14th Santosh Trophy final.
Kerala are now the third most successful team after Punjab (eight titles) and West Bengal (32).
Follow Us/sportzpoint/media/post_attachments/e238ea7545efbd31faeb761565a05c810d24e7b455ccc03428851fddc6880613.jpg)
/sportzpoint/media/post_attachments/7830b34fb022131f6d30932ff9055fc31c44e5a42821bef6a250f0b435ae55c3.jpg)
/sportzpoint/media/post_attachments/026b97884645791a416d87925dfaca5b87e76543855552055fa3dc65c64f274e.jpeg)
/sportzpoint/media/post_attachments/ffee2eae8e023ef9feb1ffb2ededc62c2291fedff786e1eae66dbb35da1a323d.jpeg)
/sportzpoint/media/post_attachments/8f193bc5820c005e55847c77a67a1249037f31e6cc76dbc9e549a0f129e76c1a.jpeg)
/sportzpoint/media/post_attachments/19b348140afc5175405b74bc6dc0befeec852083d65e001801d6fef97619cb4f.jpeg)
/sportzpoint/media/post_attachments/ed75118a9066acebba8eabedd8be9fc86156e9b2de80d7020869b34d8d34e7e4.jpeg)
/sportzpoint/media/post_attachments/16b6bb271852bfe3051ae699edf499119a9cad1172c93a43c8cbcc5d8097d583.jpeg)
/sportzpoint/media/post_attachments/d4270b6e8685cb0e793a8fc8e915dd743c76c5377aa7232793672a265cc2ad64.jpg)
/sportzpoint/media/post_attachments/20451a38167823fdd519a423a0576f5bdbc178a9b9d49a484aca6b97bb975bc6.jpeg)
/sportzpoint/media/post_attachments/2b105aa56ba9b21f90f49124c6a5128deca339cad1f8b49d28ee85be9b24bff9.jpg)