Santosh Trophy Final: Goa-Bengal clash a battle of attrition

The final of the 31st Santosh Trophy is like yesterday once more. It will be the eighth Goa vs Bengal final in what was once India’s premier football tournament. These two arch-rivals first met in the final in October, 1978 in Srinagar, when Bengal triumphed 1-0 with an opportunistic goal by winger Manas Bhattacharya in the 59th minute. The closely-contested final had a tinge of controversy.

In the first half, the Bengal defence struggled to clear inside their penalty area and lethal striker Francis D’Souza scored with a firm shot. The goal seemed legitimate but linesman M.R. Nachimuthu waved his flag and referee Frederick D’Souza disallowed the goal. Since then a Goa-Bengal clash in the Santosh Trophy has always been a battle of attrition.

On March 6, 1983, Goa annexed the Santosh Trophy for the first time, finishing as joint champions with Bengal. This is the only time that the Santosh Trophy has been shared. Also this is the only occasion that Bengal hosted the senior national championships and did not win it outright.

Goa’s skipper Brahmanand Shankh-walkar excelled as goalkeeper and both the final and replay ended in goalless draws. In a sporting gesture, Bengal skipper Compton Dutta allowed Goa to receive the trophy for the first six months.

It was a proud moment for Brahmanand when he went to receive the trophy as it was his 28th birthday. Keeping Bengal at bay for successive days was a historic success for Goa and they were recognized as among the best in the country.

The Goa-Bengal rivalry reached its peak in the final decade of the last century. From 1995 till 1999, four successive finals were contested by Bengal and Goa with Bengal winning all four. In the 1995-96 Santosh Trophy final Bengal beat Goa 2-0 at Margao on March 31, 1996.

In the 1990s, the leading players in the country were invariably contracted by the top clubs in Goa and Bengal and thereby represented these two states in the nationals. To curb this monopoly, the domicile rule was introduced by the All India Football Federation for the 58th Santosh Trophy in 2002, which was held in Manipur. This rule stated that players had to represent the states in which they were born, irrespective of which outstation club they played for.

Since 2012, any player representing an I-League club was ineligible to play for his state in the Santosh Trophy. The tournament thereafter lost its glamour. This year, the AIFF allowed 2nd division I-League players to represent their states in the national championships. So the quality of football has improved in this edition. Scouts from the ISL franchises, Kerala Blasters, Mumbai City FC and FC Goa have watched several matches to unearth new talent.

Goa have beaten Bengal only once in a Santosh Trophy final, in 2009 at Chennai, winning 4-2 on penalties. They will hope to maintain this winning streak in the final to be played at the Sports Authority of Goa Stadium in Bambolim. Coached by Mateus D’Costa, Goa have stalwarts like ex-international midfielders Peter Carvalho and Francis Fernandez and with massive crowd support should start as favourites.