Kolkata experiences a tight final at the AIFF Center of Excellence at Newtown for the Dream Sports Championship for the Kolkata region between East Bengal FC and United Sports Club. The final is separated by two halves.
This tournament is being conducted in six different regions, namely, Kolkata, Shillong, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Goa and Delhi. The Kolkata Region has witnessed it final on the 7th of April, 2024 at the National Center of Excellence.
This Championship tournament is conducted to promote more and more younger players from remote areas of the different states in different age groups. This is a good initiative from the Dream 11 company and thus will help the grassroots of Indian Football grow in a better format.
Read More :- Exclusive: Rising star Gurpreet Grewal opens up before playing his first major tournament
A thrilling experience at the Dream Sports Championship Finale (Kolkata)
On the 8th of April, 2024 we experienced the final, between the Group toppers. Namely East Bengal FC and United Sports Club. The match was played in two halves and then directlt into the penalties. And actually the match was played in two halves. The first half was completely dominated by East Bengal FC. In the second half, United Sports Club, outplayed East Bengal FC.
First Half analysis:- The EB half….
Coming to the detailed analysis of the first half. As soon as the whistle was blown, there was numerous attacks from the middle and both the flanks of East Bengal FC. Now, these attacks did give a lot on the USC defence. And as these were putting pressure on the opponent defense, the opponent defense did absorb all the attacks. Specially on those from the wings. Specially the Goalkeeper Debraj did lead the defense in a different manner then. So the team of United did do really well in absorbing the attacks. And in the mean time, United was bringing in counter attacks. But the defense of EBFC are really aware of those counter-attacks. And along with these attackings from the middle, a ball was lofted there frok Gurnaj Grewal.
And there was Ajay Sahni aware on the up-front. He did finish the ball calmly into the back of the net. And then the team continuously attacked, but it was the United defense which did not allow the ball into the net.
Second Half details:- The USC half….
Now, comming to the second half. As the Second half whistle blew, from the 1st second, it was the United Sports which did put pressure on the East Bengal defense. But the defensive department of East Bengal remained strong till the 77th minuite. But then it was Sanjib Orow who pulled off a screamer from the edge of the box and equalized in the end.
After that again East Bengal attackers started putting pressure on the defense of the club Kalyani. But the defenders did do really well to take the match to the penalties.
Now, comming to the penalty shoot-out, Deep Barman(EB) gave a perfect start by saving the first two. But on the other hand it Debraj(USC) was under pressure as he had digested the first two. But for the next two the story was reversed. EB missed the 3rd and 4th shot, whereas USC converted them. And then it went on till the 11th shot. Now in the last shot, all eyes were on Deep Barman, the EB gk, who went on to take the shot, but converted it calmly. On the other hand, it was Prajjal Saha who was sent to save the ultimate one for EB but Sk. Samin Ali did not able to convert the one for USC. In turn, it was a victory for the Red and Gold Brigade.
Opinions from Coaches and Captains of Dream Sports Championship ‘s finalists
After the match, the coach of East Bengal FC, Barun Sengupta said “My players gave their 100% from the very beginning and played according to the plans perfectly. It was an honour to play in the Dream Sports Championship. Not only in Bengal, this tournament will benefit all upcoming U17 footballers across the country. Huge appreciation for organising this tournament.”
We entered the field thinking that we will be champions because that is the legacy of East Bengal. It was a brilliant effort, even by the United Sports Club. In 2023, we played just four matches. But we played as many matches in this tournament in the Dream Sports Championship, which is a step in the right direction. A lot of players lose their chance to play professionally because of a lack of infrastructure so I hope this tournament continues well into the future,” said Haru Roy, the caption of the winning team.’
On the other hand, Rajdeep Ghosh, the coach of United Sports said ” I just got 4 days of preparation for getting this team ready for the tournament. Many of my main team players aren’t available due to their Higher Secondary Exams. Also I had some injury concerns before coming into this match as you could have seen that my right-half was not at all working in the first half as the player was a bit injured. In all, I am happy with the team’s performance.
“I am out of words after the match. I am a bit disappointed. We tried hard till the last minute but couldn’t do the needful. Win and Loss are parts of the game. But I am happy my team showed such spirited performance on the field. Will try to make our performances better in future.”, were the words of captain Shohel Mondal from United Sports.
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