Santosh Trophy: Defending champs Services vs Meghalaya headline quarterfinals

Hyderabad, Dec 25 (IANS) Out of the 36 states and two institutional sides jumping into the fray, eight teams remain in the “City of Pearls,” determined to grab the coveted Santosh Trophy, considered the jewel of the country’s National Football Championship since 1941. With eight teams ready to deliver the knock-out punch on each other, the quarterfinal stage will be played over two days from Thursday.

A meeting between defending champions Services and 2022-23 runners-up Meghalaya is a fascinating battle on the cards. Services, who are aiming to defend the title for the first time since 2015-16, didn’t start in the best possible manner as they went down 0-1 to Manipur.

However, three successive and convincing wins put them back on track for the knockout stages. But Monday’s defeat to West Bengal threw off that momentum and they had to settle for third place in Group A.

Meghalaya were also a slow starter, drawing with Tamil Nadu and losing to Kerala in the first two games. But they gradually picked up form and beat Delhi and Goa to ensure a quarterfinal spot. After crashing out in the final round group stage last season, it’s a much better showing from Hering Shangpliang’s side this time around.

A goalless draw with Odisha meant a third consecutive clean sheet for Meghalaya, which suggests a close contest for the fourth and final semifinal spot. That was also the case the last time these two teams met in 2023-24 when Services nicked a 1-0 win thanks to a 95th-minute penalty. Bengal and Odisha, two sides with contrasting fortunes in the ongoing final rounds of the 78th National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy will cross swords at the Deccan Arena.

Bengal, the 32-time champions, on paper, appear favourites. While finishing top of Group A with 13 points, they have netted 20 goals in their eight matches in the 78th Santosh Trophy Group Stage and the Final Rounds, but have conceded only one. The one goal they conceded came in their first match of the Final Rounds, a 3-1 victory against Jammu and Kashmir in Group A. The side, coached by Sanjoy Sen, has not conceded a goal for 371 minutes so far. Attacker Robi Hansda currently leads the top scorers’ charts with eight goals to his name in the 2024-25 Santosh Trophy.

Odisha, on the other hand, have managed to scrape through as the fourth-best team in Group B with five points in their kitty and just one win against former champions Goa (2-0). Kartik Hantal has been among the goals for Odisha, having netted five in the competition so far.

The 2002-03 Santosh Trophy Champions, Manipur, have managed to maintain a certain level of consistency while remaining below the general radar so far in the Final Rounds. On the one hand, they left it late in their Group A match to beat bottom side Telangana, while on the other, they have managed positive results against defending champions Services (1-0), and eventual group toppers Bengal (0-0).

Delhi had a great start to their Final Rounds campaign, but seem to have somewhat lost their momentum since a 0-2 defeat at the hands of Meghalaya, which were followed by a defeat against Kerala (0-3), and a stalemate against Goa. In terms of their history, Delhi, who had won their only Santosh Trophy title eight decades ago in 1944. Since then, they have made the quarterfinals and semifinals on several occasions, but could never progress beyond it.

Jammu and Kashmir, who finished fourth in Group A, will face what looks like an uphill task against free-scoring and unbeaten Group B winners Kerala. Seven-time champions, last in 2021-22, Kerala have already scored a staggering 29 goals in eight matches this season. Naseeb Rahman and Muhammad Ajsal, especially, are in prolific form with six goals each.

Apart from West Bengal and Manipur, they are the only remaining unbeaten team. After securing the top spot with a game to spare, head coach Biby Thomas took the opportunity to rotate the squad for the last match against Tamil Nadu on Tuesday and will have the advantage of fresher legs for the quarter-final.

Jammu and Kashmir, playing the final round for the first time since 2015-16, will be happy to have come this far in 2024-25. Unlike Kerala, they only managed to seal their last eight berth on the final matchday with a win over Rajasthan. However, their ability to bounce back from heavy defeats in the first two games against West Bengal and Services has to be appreciated. Although Jammu and Kashmir have conceded just once in their last three games, it remains to be seen how they can keep this offensive Kerala side at bay.

–IANS

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