Crucial encounter for ITI

MARCH 20: The champions have already been decided. It is only a matter of time -- precisely on March 26 -- for Mohun Bagan to wear the Nat...

MARCH 20: The champions have already been decided. It is only a matter of time — precisely on March 26 — for Mohun Bagan to wear the National Football League title.

However, the battle for the booby prize in the NFL is hotting up with Border Security Force, Jalandhar’s upset win over FC Kochin on Sunday at Ludhiana. The win retains the slender hopes of BSF to remain in the premier league but has left one of the two teams which meet on Tuesday, here at the Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium, State Bank of Travancore and Indian Telephone Industries, Bangalore, to fight for survival.

Dempo, Goa are virtually relegated to the Second Division. BSF now have 16 points from 21 matches, one point less than ITI who need nothing less than a win. A draw and win on March 25 against BSF at Ludhiana will keep their position in the NFL proper safe. SBT still have a match against Dempo on March 26 and are in the ninth position with 20 points from 20 matches.

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All these permutation and combination have put the Bangaloreans in a very tight spot. Their coach AD Nagendran, looking glum after knowing about BSF’s win, has sent a stern warning to all his players that “you will have to win or else…” Nagendran found the ground atrocious’. “It is a far cry from the stadium where my boys played the junior Nationals five years ago,” he lamented.

The home team, on the other hand, exuded confidence. They face no relegation problems but coach NM Najeeb and his boys want to end the engagements on a winning note for their fans who rooted for them despite suffering severe battering at the hands of their rivals in the earlier matches. “The boys have recovered from injury except Sivakumar who will need an operation. Sunil Kumar will be sitting out with two yellow cards. I have a lot of options for the match. But I can guarantee a superlative performance from my boys.”

Only Ilyas Pasha and Yusuf Ahmed, a recruit from Oman, will be missed by ITI. RC Prakash and Nigerian George Iekha will spearhead their attack. Former Kerala junior player Naushad Pari will be in the midfield with Nigerians Gabriel Emecheta and Oneka Okafor. Nazir Jamal, Muralidharan, Sunil Kumar and former International Rahmatullah Khan will form the defence with Balaji under the bar.

With the return of captain Sivakumar, Deepu Krishnan and Martin Mathew in the back-four, and Shabir Ali joining Lanel Thomas and Suresh Babu in the middle after a brief break, SBT can hope to plug the holes in the defence and shore up their midfield.

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Sylvetser Ignatius (who has seven goals to his credit) and Abdul Hakkim will add more teeth to their attack with Asif Saheer who showed remarkable recovery during practice session this evening. Feroze Sherief will man the SBT goal.