State players geared up for Santosh Trophy

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Talent is must but, luck is essential for anybody to prove anything. When Kerala goes to the 65th Santosh Trophy Football Championship that begins in Assam on May 7, we are reminded of the luck factor by captain and senior-most player in the squad, Bijesh Ben.

“We are going with a young team, apart from three or four of us, others are little experienced. But, we had a similar team when Kerala last won the Santosh Trophy in 2004,” said the 30-year-old midfielder, who had started his Santosh Trophy campaign in 2004.

It will be the seventh appearance in Santosh Trophy for Bijesh and the other experienced candidates in the team include, goalkeeper Joby Joseph, defender Johnson N. and midfielder Martin John, all appearing for the fifth time.

“In 2004 Sylvester Ignatious was the captain of the side and there was Shabeer Ali and Nelson, who became captain in 2005 among the senior players. But, like me, most others were new to the national championship,” reminisced the former SBT player.

“Take a look at last year’s Santosh Trophy. We had a good team but, we lost to Mizoram in the knockout stage. Had we succeeded in converting two open chances earlier in that game, we could have ended up winning 5-0 but, luck was not in our favour,” said Bijesh.

This year as there are no I-League players in Santosh Trophy, we can expect a close affair. And, the team with a go-for-the-kill attitude alone can reign supreme. Kerala boys claim they have got it in them.
Former Titanium player Johnson, who will don the defense lines and former national under-21 player Joby Joseph, custodian of the Kerala battalion are confident about a great show this time around.

“Most of the players represent II division clubs or department teams and are optimistic about a good show. But, one needs to know when to step up the tempo and when to play it calm and easy. We will give our best shot,” said Johnson.

The countdown has begun and as Kerala are in cluster IV with Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand and Chandigarh. The final is on May 30 and like Bijesh and coach M. Rajeev and other players, the whole of Kerala will want a repeat of 2004.