By B Shrikant
Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), Feb 28 (IANS): The last time Karnataka won the National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy was in 1968-69 as Mysore State, even before they got their present name in 1973. Services claimed the trophy more recently -- in 2018-19.
The two teams will face off in the second semifinal of the 76th National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy at the King Fahd Stadium here on Wednesday, hoping to reclaim the title and return to the pinnacle of Indian football once again.
Karnataka made it to the 12-team Final Round as the best second-placed team in Group 1, finishing behind hosts Delhi in the stage which was played at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi. They finished second behind Punjab in the Final Round, beating Kerala and Goa and playing out draws with Punjab, Maharashtra and Odisha. It was the draw between Punjab and defending champions Kerala in the final league match that paved their way to the semis. If Kerala had won that match against Punjab, they would have finished second in the group.
Services, in contrast, had a smoother run to the last-four stage. They made it directly to the Final Round along with Railways and Odisha and then topped Group B with four wins and a draw in five matches. They defeated fellow semi-finalists Meghalaya, Manipur and West Bengal in this phase and the lone blemish for them was a draw against Delhi.
Thus the onus is on Karnataka to take the battle to Services when the two teams meet in the second match on Wednesday. Karnataka have to be proactive but at the same time defend well as Services could be very dangerous on the counter-attack. The Services players are always quite fit and then can produce explosive bursts to capitalise on the situation if they see their opponents lagging.
It is good that they are playing the second match of the day when the conditions are expected to be better. But with both teams evenly matched, it is expected to be a tougher contest for them than the first semi-final between Punjab and Meghalaya.