Santosh Trophy: Services, Goa look to break title jinx in final

Services will take on Goa in the final of the 77th Santosh Trophy, at the Golden Jubilee Stadium, Yupia, Arunachal Pradesh, on Saturday. Both teams have had to battle hard in their respective semifinal fixtures and will no doubt give their all in what promises to be a mouth-watering clash in the Land of the Dawn-lit-Mountains.

The two sides met earlier in Round 3 and Goa came out as the winner owing to a 2-1 scoreline, thanks to goals from Cardozo and D'Silva. Kamei scored Services' solitary goal in that match. But as this is a final, all the old records and performances can relax as the champion will be decided on the pitch and the team that handles the pressure and nerves will return to its home state with the coveted silverware.

Six-time winner Services, who last won the trophy in 2018-19, is coming into the game following a spirited 2-1 victory over Mizoram where it remained in control for almost the entire game until Zothanpuia got sent off at the end which paved a way back for Mizoram.

Shafeel, Vijay and Rahul had an excellent outing in the semifinal against Mizoram and constantly got through the Mizo left side and will no doubt be looking forward to doing the same against Goa as well. Murmu, despite not scoring, helped the team in attack and build-up play as did Christopher Kamei.

Head coach MG Ramachandran said his side is excited for the final and is in good shape.

"Mentally and physically, we are in a good place, we are ready for the final," he said. This will be Services' 12th Santosh Trophy final appearance.

Services would want to avoid lapses like the one against Mizoram which almost cost it the game and would look to remain focused on finishing the game out and handling pressure well especially since Goa has shown it does not give it give up till the last minute as evident in its dramatic win over Manipur.

Goa found an equaliser in the 96th minute from Necio Maristo Fernandes, who also scored the match-winning goal in extra time. This will be Goa's 14th final in the Santosh Trophy, having won the trophy 5 times, previously.

Goa has played some sublime football leading up to the final and hasn't lost in the last 11 games. It should, however, be wary of the fact that it struggled against Manipur after a brisk start when Manipur started pressing high against Goa's backline, one of which led to Manipur's goal. Goa will look to iron out its press resistance at the back if it wants to implement tits passing style of play.

This historically decorated team, which last won the trophy in 2009 and was on the losing side in the 2017 final, would want to make things right this time and return to winning ways.

"Winning it is all that’s on our mind. That will do a lot for football in Goa" remarks head coach Charles Dias. Skipper Mohammad Ali too talked about how Goa is focused on winning the final. "We will do everything we can to win the trophy" he stated.

Although facing each other for the first time in the final, these two sides have clashed in the Santosh Trophy 11 times previously, with Goa winning five and Services winning three.

The match will be live-streamed on FIFA Plus and Arunachal Pradesh's YouTube channel and is scheduled for a 7 PM kickoff.