Samba Boys are U- 17 champs
The Samba boys bounced back from a 1- 2 deficit with a late equaliser to force the game into penalties
Brazilian school Colegio Estadul Santo Antonio defeated an unlucky M. S. P. Higher Secondary School of Kerala 5- 4 in a sudden death finish in the final of the Subroto Cup Under- 17 boys tournament at the Ambedkar Stadium in the capital on Monday.
In the shootout, both teams managed to convert four of their five shots and the Brazilians heaved a sigh of relief when Jonas M. J. missed to hand victory to the pre- tournament favourites, following Diego’s successful conversion.
Earlier, the Samba Boys bounced back from a 1- 2 deficit in regulation time with a late equaliser to force the game into penalties.
In fact, the Kerala outfit looked set to take home the trophy when they took a 2- 0 lead and though the Brazilians had managed to pull one back, all the Kerala team needed was to hold on to the ball in the dying minutes.
But Jose Ricardo had different plans as the Brazillian midfielder found the net with the last kick of the match deep into injury time to take the final match to penalty shoot out.
Said Brazil team manager Marcel, “We had a lot of opportunities to win the match but when another team decide to sit back and defend, it becomes very difficult to score goals.
“Thankfully we found the equaliser in the dying minutes and in the penalty it was anybody’s game. We are happy to win. I thank adidas and Indian Force for inviting us to be part of this historic tournament and we look forward to come next year.”
Kerala custodian M. S. Sujith was undoubtedly the hero of the final as he managed to keep the Brazilians at bay for much of the first half and helped his team launch counter attacks that Mahin Hussain ( 14th minute) and Gani Ahmad Nigam ( 43rd) converted into goals.
Ricardo gave the Brazilians a glimmer of hope in the 44th minute with his first strike and then handed them a lifeline in injury time.
The winners took home a prize purse of ` 3.5 lakh and the runners- up got richer by ` 2 lakh.
A minute’s silence was observed before the match due to the untimely demise of V. N. Singh, whose 41 years of association with the Durand Cup and the Subroto Cup had been instrumental in the smooth conduct of the tournament for so many years.
AWARDS Fairplay Award: Ragunan Sports School, Indonesia Best goalkeeper: Sujith M. S., MSP Higher Secondaty School, Kerala Best coach: Gustavo Leal, Colegio Estadul Santo Antonio, Brazil Best player: Loran, Colegio Estadul Santo Antonio, Brazil Most promising player: Tajuddin, St. Anthony’s Higher Secondary School, Meghalaya