By Abhishek Roy, IANS
Ludhiana : Football seems to be on a high with India winning the Nehru Cup for the first time last week. The focus now shifts to this industrial hub of Punjab where the same bunch of players will face each other for the Federation Cup, to decide the country’s champion club, starting Tuesday.
Defending champions Mohun Bagan start their campaign Thursday against ONGC and look a much better side now than in the last season.
Players like Indian skipper Bhaichung Bhutia and Jose Ramirez Barreto make Kolkata’s maroon and green outfit pre-tournament favourites. All eyes will be on Bhutia, who was in sublime form in the Nehru Cup in New Delhi but defender Deepak Mondal’s knee injury will certainly be a cause for worry for Mohun Bagan.
Hosts JCT Mills, Phagwara, however, open their campaign against Goa’s Vasco, who are in troubled waters. The Goans, once a regular in the national league, have been playing their trade in the second division for the past few years and are yet to register a win the state league this season.
The presence of star striker Sunil Chettri and midfielder Renedy Singh looks to be a big plus for the home side. The duo were part of the Nehru Cup winning team and Chettri was also the highest Indian goal getter in the five-nation tournament.
The opening day of the 29th Federation Cup will see a Kolkata derby up north in Punjab when East Bengal take on Mohammedan Sporting. East Bengal have not won the Federation Cup since 1996 and Sporting even longer.
But the return of players like goalkeeper Subrato Pal and midfielder Mehrajuddin Wadao will bolster East Bengal, who will be looking to end the title drought. Pal was in fine form and made some scintillating saves in the Nehru Cup final against a higher-rated Syrian attack.
For Mohammedan Sporting, the going has been tough and they have lost some key players after they were relegated from the national league’s top division. Goalkeeper Naseem Akhtar and midfielder Adewusi Adebayo are their key men.
Among the 16 participating teams Mohun Bagan and Mahindra United have been the most consistent since 2001, when the competition was resumed after a two-year hiatus. Since then both have won the tournament twice each.
It is rebuilding time for Mahindra United, the 2005 winners, who lost big players during the transfer season. The team will be banking on players like Steven Dias, Ajayan Nair and goalkeeper Sandip Nandy to carry their title hopes.
Both Dias and Nair did well in the Nehru Cup and this will be a chance for Nandy to prove that despite being on the wrong side of 30, he is still the good enough under the bar.
National coach Bob Houghton preferred Paul to Nandy as the number one goalkeeper.
Fixtures:
Sep 4: JCT vs. Vasco; Mohammed Sporting vs. East Bengal
Sep 5: Mahindra United vs. HAL Sport Club; Army XI vs. Sporting Clube de Goa
Sep 6: Air India vs. Viva Kerala; ONGC vs. Mohun Bagan
Sep 7: Dempo vs. Chirag United; Salgaocar vs. Churchill Brothers
Sep 8: First Quarterfinal
Sep 9: Second Quarterfinal; Third Quarterfinal
Sep 10: Fourth Quarterfinal
Sep 11: First Semi-final
Sep 12: Second Semi-final
Sep 15: Final