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MB want to prove a point
Having won the I-League, Churchill Brothers have nothing to prove now. But Mohun Bagan coach Karim Bencherifa, after watching his team finish second best in the pecking order, now wants to prove 'how badly we regret missing the I-League', when they clash against the Goans for the Super Cup in Gurgaon on Sunday.
Having won the I-League, Churchill Brothers have nothing to prove now. But Mohun Bagan coach Karim Bencherifa, after watching his team finish second best in the pecking order, now wants to prove 'how badly we regret missing the I-League', when they clash against the Goans for the Super Cup in Gurgaon on Sunday.
With exhaustion creeping into both the Churchill and Bagan players after a long and grinding season, a Super Sunday is not exactly on the cards, but if the likes of Bhaichung Bhutia, Jose Barreto, Okolie Odafe and Gourmangi Singh go full throttle one last time, one just might get to witness 90 minutes of exciting football.
"Missing the I-League rankles and we want to prove it tomorrow," said Bencherifa, after a training session at the Tao Devi Lal stadium.
"We lost the last two matches — Bagan lost to Mahindra in their last league match and then followed that up with a 1-6 humiliation at the hands of Al Kuwait in the AFC Cup --- on the and all of us are very tired also, but we just want to win tomorrow," said Barreto. As tired as Bagan, league champions Churchill, however, will look to end the season with a win.
"With the country's top two teams playing anything can happen," said coach Zoran Djordjevic.
Awards galore
Here is more good news for Okolie Odafe and his men. They are likely to win at least three out of the five I-League awards. With 26 goals from 22 matches, the skipper is all set to clinch the awards for the best striker as well as best player.
Also in line is his teammates Gourmangi Singh for best defender and Ogba Kalu for best midfielder. The fight for the best goalkeeper is between Bagan's Sangram Mukherjee and Churchill custodian Arindam Bhattacharjee.
