Karim Bencherifa proved he was the best
coach in India at the moment, outwitting counterpart Trevor Morgan in
the Federation Cup final between Salgaocar and East Bengal at the Salt
Lake Stadium on Thursday. The 3-1 scoreline, which helped I-League
champions Salgaocar complete a double, also showed that on a level
playing field, the Goans have currently no competitors.
From an I-League second division outfit three years
ago, this victory marks the complete turnaround for the club. In the
process they became only the fourth Indian club — after Mohun Bagan,
Dempo SC and Mahindra United — to achieve the distinction.
On Thursday, Bencherifa had the match in his pocket
inside the first 19 minutes. Chidi Edeh opened the scoring with an
excellent piece of work that left East Bengal defence flatfooted before
Francis Fernandes made it 2-0. Alan Gow, however, brought back some
cheer for the East Bengal fans when he scored from the spot after Penn
Orji was fouled inside the area. But the red-and-golds were never in the
game.
Morgan started with an unfit Mehtab
Hossain and when the Player of the Year limped off the field within five
minutes, the East Bengal played Sanju Pradhan in a position he wasn’t
used to.
Bencherifa’s tactic, on the other hand, was simply
to play on the counter. With East Bengal’s defence looking iffy against
incessant counters from Salgaocar, goalkeeper Sandip Nandy misjudged a
cross from the right in the 66th minute to hand Japanese striker Ryuji
Sueoka a simple opportunity to complete the scoring.
-Indian Express
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