Thursday, April 16, 2009

Goa's Churchill Bros set to create history in I-league

Goa's football crazy public is awaiting with bated breath, to see the final outcome of a long battle for the title of the ONGC I-league -India's premier football tournament, with the winner taking home a   purse of Rs 50 lakh in prize money.

Going into the final round of matches, Churchill Brothers and Mohun Bagan are tied on 43 points each. However Churchill enjoys a superior goal average which means that the Goan club needs a imagesimple win against lowly placed Mohammedan sporting in their final match today at the Nehru Stadium in Fatorda Goa to clinch the title.

The hosts are hot favourites to win the title with punters stacking the odds favourably on them. Besides Churchill brothers have an impeccable home record with the Nigerian Odafe Okolie who is in their ranks in sparkling from throughout the league.

Churchill Brothers have one of the most enviable home record in the I-league as they have not lost to an outstation team since 2002 and punters therefore believe that the Goan side is simply unstoppable at the moment.

Churchill Brothers' coach Zoran Djordjevic is brimming with confidence to put it across Mohammedan Sporting today . While Churchill needs a simple victory against Mohammedan sporting today, Mohun bagan who play Mahindra United have three of their key players unavailable and need to win by a margin of 16 goals to wrest the title from Churchills grasp.

For over 13 years since the start of the National football league in 1996, the Varca based Churchill brothers has been one of the better sides and entertainers to the core besides being consistent.However the league title has somehow eluded them.

Churchill have faltered in the final round on three occasions. In the year 1996-97 Churchill came precariously close but lost to Indian bank in the final hurdle while in 2000 Churchill made a promising start but were outpaced by East Bengal in an extremely tight match while in 2002 controversies haunted the finish.image

However this time around the fans of the club will hope that with this final outing today, the club will put to rest all doubts about their ability to clinch the title and lay its claim on it at last.

 

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