Curtains will be drawn on the Guwahati leg of the 131st Durand Cup on Sunday, when Odisha FC (OFC) take on the Army Green Football Team (AGFT) at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, in what will be the first single-game day of the tournament so far. Odisha have already qualified as toppers of Group D, all 10 games of which were played in Guwahati and the AGFT can only finish third in the group, provided they pull off an improbable victory against their Sunday rivals.
That victory looks far-fetched for the Greens, at least on evidence available over the previous 18 matchdays of the 131st IndianOil Durand Cup. For starters, Odisha have won all their three games with ease while the Greens have won one, lost one and drawn the other, to have been knocked out of the tournament after a 0-2 loss against the Kerala Blasters in their previous game. After opening with a 3-1 win over the NorthEast United FC (NEUFC), they have faded away with every game since.
Odisha are at the other extreme, gaining in confidence with every game after blowing away NEUFC 6-0 in their opener. They have scored 11 goals without return so far and would be looking to extend that record even further and go into the quarter-final against Bengaluru FC oozing confidence.
It is a mismatch on paper given the overall context and present circumstances but the Greens would fight for pride as former winners of the Cup and Odisha will have to be on their toes to maintain their perfect record in the tournament.
Source: Indian Army
Report- Pratyusha Mukherjee