Come June 14, Bengal and Goa will once again come face to face in the finals of the 63rd National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy at the Nehru Stadium, Chennai. This will be the seventh time that both teams will lock horns in the finals and going by the statistics the Bengal outfit has an upper hand as they have won five times and on one occasion both the teams were named joint winners.
Both Goa and Bengal have made it to the semis but their performance hasn’t been that great as they are yet to play their best game. Their performance in the semi-finals wasn’t impressive and to put one team as the favourites is very difficult.
Goa has an experienced side and if they get their rhythm right then they have the ability to beat any side on a given day. Goa will be trying hard to create history in Chennai as they have never managed to beat Bengal in the finals of the tournament.
With likes of Climax Lawrence, Mahesh Gawli, Marcus Mascarenhas, Beevan D’Mello, Felix D’Souza and Joaquim Abranches in their side they certainly seem to be a better squad on the paper.
Bengal on the other hand are relying a lot on their striker Lalawmpuia as he has played a major role in the Bengal’s route to finals. Whoever wins the National Championship an exciting final match is expected. The match will be telecast live on Zee Sports and Ten Sports at 5:30 PM.
Head to Head
Year Venue Winner Runners up Results
1978-79 Bengal Bengal Goa (1-0)
1982-83 Calcutta Bengal & Goa (Joint winners) (0-0;0-0)
1995-96 Bengal Bengal Goa (2-0)
1996-97 Bengal Bengal Goa (1-0) [aet]
1997-98 Bengal Bengal Goa (1-0)
1998-99 Bengal Bengal Goa (5-0)
Source: the-aiff.com
From the archive. First published on footballkerala.com on Saturday 13 June 2009, restored from the site's 2012 database. Text as originally published.