Upside to man down

Greenwood,winners of the tournament in 2008,had entered the U-14 section of the tournament with a full strength 15-player squad but subsequent medical tests had ruled five of that squad overage. Rather than pull his side out of the tournament coach Mughato Sumi decided to keep playing. “Last year we lost in the finals and there was no way that we were going to skip the tournament just because we were missing one player,” said coach Sumi.

Indeed there seemed to be nothing holding back the Naga side in the league phase as they pumped in 22 goals past their hapless opponents. They got their first challenge in the quarterfinals when they edged past Manipur 2-1. That match was the only time the side even conceded a goal. Custodian Neithovilie then managed to keep a clean sheet against Mizoram in the semifinal.

Sumi says his side had been lucky in their two knockout rounds,and he had hoped for more of the same against the West Bengal school of Kalyangarh Bidyamandir. Even as both sides started agressively,it was Bengal who nearly went ahead with a third minute long ranger that custodian Neithovilie managed to block. As the match drew on with neither side breaking the deadlock,coach Sumi admitted he was nervous.

Battling Fatigue

“Because we were playing with the same ten players for the whole tournament our strategy was to score early and then sit back on the defence. If we kept trying to attack we would become too fatigued and concede,” says Sumi. Indeed after a goalless regulation time,the Naga side appeared demoralised as they prepared to face the period of extra time. “We were very tired but coach told us that we only needed to concentrate for 14 minutes and that this was the tournament of our lives,” says Lelen,a striker for the side. Indeed he almost gave his side the winner with a strike that rattled the bar.

In the shootout,Kalyangarh looked like the favourites since they had handled a similar situation during the semifinals. However it was the Naga side who rose to the occasion. Their strikers Nyithung,Osen and Lelen converted their spot kicks while ‘keeper Neithovilie put in a performance that was earning him the goalkeeper of the tournament award.

For Bengal,after Sandip Roy converted the opener,they fell apart. Sanjib Bhowmick tried a Panenka but his bold effort came to naught with keeper Neithovilie not committing to either side. Sourav Biswas struck hard to the right but Neithovilie guessed correctly. And when Sarkar sent his kick high,it was time for the gassed Naga side to celebrate. Neithovilie guessed correctly. And when Sarkar sent his kick high,it was time for the gassed Naga side to celebrate.