Goa beat Bengal to win Santosh Trophy

Goa exorcised the ghosts of the past by pulling off a 4-2 victory against nemesis Bengal via the penalty shootout following a goalless 120 minutes in the final of the 63rd National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy in Chennai on Sunday.

It was Goa’s first win against Bengal in six meetings in the final and their fifth title triumph and fourth outright (they were joint-winners once).

After a barren 90 minutes and half-hour of extra-time period leading to the penalty shootout, Climax Lawrence, Beevan D’Mello, John Charles Dias and Fulganco Cardozo converted for Goa whose captain Felix D’Souza brought off two grand saves as Bengal were successful with only two attempts by Snehashish Chakraborty and Pachau Lalam Puia.

It was another heart break for Bengal who last won the trophy for the 29th time 10 years ago while Goa regained the cup after a lapse of three years.

Goan skipper D’Souza thus came through the tournament without conceding a goal during regulation period to emulate the feat of the legendary state-mate Bramhanand some three decades ago as he blocked shots from inexperienced Safar Sardar and Lalkamal Bhowmick while Nicholas Rodrigues missed for Goa.

Bengal had to blame themselves for the defeat after missing scoring chances galore while Goa, playing their eighth match in three weeks, looked more likely to score though they too fumbled at the finish.

Tamil Nadu striker Muthu was adjudged Player of the tournament while Goa received the Fair Play trophy.

Bengal showed a lot of urgency at the start and had the Goans under pressure with a series of raids as they intelligently moved the ball around from flank to flank to keep the defenders guessing.

However, despite the early dominance, Bengal drew blank at the finish where their forwards were found wanting in positioning and also anticipating the stream of crosses that rained in from the wings.

It was a while before the Goans got their act together and in fact looked more dangerous when on the move. They used the width of the field to stretch the Bengal defence that just about managed to avert danger, but did not inspire confidence with their marking.

Meanwhile, Marcus Mascarenhas, the livewire in the Goan ranks, kept the team move on the move with some good promptings from the midfield and then following up on the attacks. Undoubtedly, he along with his counterpart Pachau Lalam Puia were the two players who caught most of the attention.

The “action” at the goalmouth were restricted a few headers and some stray shots at the target. So much so that neither goalkeeper was tested and the blank scorecard at half-time was indeed no surprise.

After the lemon break, it was Goa who took the initiative and the Bengal goal looked certain to fall at any moment. A few close shaves kept Bengal in the game, but their defending left a lot to be desired.

The Goan forwards, enjoying a lot of space in the Bengal box, were guilty wasting a couple of great scoring chances that should have been put away without much ado.

The repeatedly reprieved Bengal nearly struck on a counter-attack when Puia streaked down the left flank, crossed to Snehashish Chakraborty who in turn passed to Subho Kumar. With the Goan defence in disarray, Subho shot rather weakly across the goalmouth.

At the other end, the Goans nearly scored when Wilton Gomes crossed from the right after being put through by Beevan D’Mellow. The cross could not have been any better, but Marcus Mascarenhas was a step slow to get to it as the ball streaked across the goalmouth.

These were the two occasions when the rivals came closest to scoring a goal in the entire match that eventually spilled into 30 minutes of extra time period.

Early in the extra-time, the Goans nearly scored when D’Mello’s header narrowly missed target following a long, defence splitting cross lob from Mahesh Gawli. Indeed, the Bengal defence was looking shakier than before as Goa stepped up pace and pressure.

Bengal brought in Karthik Kisku for Gouranga Biswas to add a pair of fresh legs to the forwardline and the change had the desired effect. Karthik came up with a couple of strong runs on the right flank and even set up Puia with a precise cross. But an indecisive Puia shot wide of the goal.

In the dying moments, Goa survived some anxious moments and it took all of goalkeeper and skipper Felix D’Souza’s courage and reflexes to bring off a couple of saves to take the game into a penalty shootout.

Federer wins maiden French Open title

Roger Federer gloriously completed a career Grand Slam on Sunday by capturing a record-equalling 14th major with a 6-1, 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 win
French Open Final.

The 27-year-old world number two finally won a Roland Garros crown at the 11th attempt and in his fourth successive final having come up heartbreakingly short in the last three showdowns against Spanish nemesis Rafael Nadal.

Blog: Federer awaits tryst with destiny

His victory, ironically over the Swedish 23rd seed who shocked four-time Nadal in the last 16, took him level with great friend Pete Sampras as the holder of 14 Grand Slam titles.

He also moved into a select group made up only of Fred Perry, Don Budge, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson and Andre Agassi as men who have won all four of the Grand Slam events.

“It was probably my greatest victory, I was under big pressure. I did it and it’s phenomenal,” said Federer who broke down in tears after being presented with the trophy by Agassi, the 1999 champion, and while the Swiss national anthem was played.

Soderling, who has now lost 10 times in 10 meetings with Federer, admitted the Swiss was a deserving winner.

“Roger was too good for me today, he played much better. He is a worthy winner and for me he is the best player in history,” said Soderling.

“He gave me a lesson in how to play tennis.”

Any doubts over Federer’s ability to overcome his Paris jinx were quickly dashed as the Swiss star, playing in a record-equalling 19th Grand Slam final and riding a tidal wave of support, dominated Soderling.

He broke the first game on a Soderling double fault and was soon a second break to the good to lead 4-0 when a sweetly-timed drop shot left the Swede stranded behind the baseline.

Soderling, the first Swede in the Roland Garros final since his coach Magnus Norman finished runner-up to Gustavo Kuerten in 2000, stopped the rot with a hold to trail 4-1, but Federer quickly nipped further ahead to 5-1.

Soderling’s uncompromising forehand, which was a dagger to the heart of Nadal, was looking more like a blunt instrument in the damp and chilly conditions.

His service game crumbled again in the seventh game as Federer claimed the opening set.

It had taken just 23 minutes with the Swiss losing just two points on serve.

The final was then delayed by a worrying security breach during the fourth game of the second set with Federer ahead 2-1.

A spectator, dressed in red, waved a flag of the Barcelona football club in the world number two’s face before he was wrestled off Court Philippe Chatrier by security guards.

But the Swiss star wasn’t disrupted from his elegant stride, either by the intruder or the rain which started to steadily fall.

Although Soderling slowly rediscovered his service power, it was Federer who was comfortably dictating the points and he fired down four aces in the tie-break to open up a two-sets lead.

He was a break ahead in the third set to lead 1-0 before Soderling carved out, and squandered, his first break point of the match in the fourth game.

Federer then sent down his 16th ace of the tie to stretch to 4-2.

He came out to serve for a place in history but faltered to 30-40 with a wild, running forehand.

With pregnant wife Mirka looking anxiously on, he averted the crisis and went to match point with a confident volley and claimed victory when Soderling netted a service return after 1hr 55min on court.

Federer slumped to the Paris clay in celebration and in tears as he secured his place as arguably the greatest player of all time.