A step away from the title round of the country’s most prestigious tournament, four teams, West Bengal, Services, Kerala, and Manipur, would surely not budge an inch when they step onto the Gachibowli Stadium pitch on Sunday, December 29, 2024, for the semi-finals of the 78th National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy.
The battle line has already been drawn; West Bengal will meet holders Services in the first semi-final, followed by the match between Kerala and Manipur. All four teams are veterans of the Santosh Trophy, former champions and forces to reckon with in Indian football.
A day-night football extravaganza is in the offing; it is time to have a look at what could be in store on Sunday.
West Bengal vs Services , first semi-final, will be held on December 29.
The rivalry between the two teams is part of Santosh Trophy folklore; they first met in the 1951 edition and 31 more times since then. Twice they met in the final—Services’ first title in 1960 came at the expense of Bengal in Kozhikode. Bengal extracted their pound of flesh nine years later in Nowgong, with a 6-1 demolition of Services.
Bengal are record 32-time champions and considered the perpetual favourites of the Santosh Trophy. But in the recent past, Services can easily boast of a far better record. Since 2012, they have taken the trophy to their Sports Control Board headquarters six times, while West Bengal had only one success during this period.
No doubt, this time, West Bengal, coached by Sanjoy Sen, are determined to do it differently. If the popular saying, morning shows the day, carries any bearing here, then they have a slight edge. The two teams met in the group league five days ago where a Basudeb Mandi stunner helped Bengal lower the colours of Services. West Bengal’s two strikers, Robi Hansda and Narohari Shreshtha, are prolific scorers; they have already scored nine and six goals, respectively, to help West Bengal win five of their last six games and maintain a near-impeccable record in the final round.
But then, defending champions Services can throw all predictions topsy-turvy. After a not-too-impressive group league, they looked smooth and effective in the quarter-final against a never-say-die Meghalaya. They have multiple scorers and some of them, like Rahul Ramakrishnan and Thingnam Bidhyasagar Singh are good enough to upstage West Bengal defence, who have conceded only two goals in the final round.
Kerala vs Manipur (second semi-final will be held on December 29.
If fan following is a major cause behind the success of the Santosh Trophy over the years, then no other team perhaps can outshine Kerala and Manipur. Their support base is enviable and possibly the driving force behind both teams’ eagerness to make the best use of the National Championships platform.
From Day One, it was evident that Kerala had landed in Hyderabad with their eyes on the title. They haven’t lost a match yet and the only time they shared points in the group league was against Tamil Nadu; by the time they were already assured of the top spot in Group B. With the clinical efficiency they demolished teams like Delhi or Odisha were testimony of their professionalism. They have more than one striker, though the seven-time winners have one forward in Naseeb Rahman, who is fast proving to be a big-match player.
Manipur are the third team in the ongoing competition, after West Bengal and Kerala, who are yet to taste defeat. In the quarter-finals, Delhi threatened to upstage them with an early goal and then another in the second half to force a 2-2 draw in the regulation period, but were simply blown away by Manipur’s extra-time blitz that is enough to give any team in the competition sleepless nights.
Manipur footballers have been dominating the Indian football scene ever since the turn of the century and are playing club football all over India, including ISL and I-League. The supply line from the state of unending and it won’t be surprising if a few more names like Shunjanthan Ragui, Zahir Khan and others from this current side hit the bigger stage very soon.
