Sport - Football

‘All are equal in Group of Death’

KOCHI: After watching Pune FC — the new kid on the Indian football firmament — bring down Bangalore’s seasoned HAL in the Second Division National Football League opener in Pune, State Bank of Travancore coach K.P. Sethumadhavan was very cautious about his team’s chances in the championship.

“We’re in a Group of Death. And all are equal,” said the former international, from Pune, on Thursday evening.

SBT, Kerala’s champion club, opens its Second Division campaign against Goan side Vasco in the tough Group ‘A’ on Friday.

“Vasco’s three foreigners are all Brazilians and the team looks very strong,” said the former international. “Pune FC is quite strong too.”

Apart from Pune FC and HAL, SBT has ONGC and Chirag United for company.

Both the Second Division groups are being played in Maharashtra — Group ‘B’ matches are in progress at Kolhapur — and the top three teams from each pool progress to the league’s final phase in Guwahati. There, the six will fight for next season’s four I-League berths.

The new clubs, with deep pockets and rich sponsors, are now making life difficult for some of Indian football’s established sides. Chennai’s Indian Bank, a regular in the premier National League a few years ago, was drubbed 3-0 by Mumbai FC, another fresh side, in Kolhapur on Wednesday, while HAL lost 1-2 to home side Pune FC which is coached by former Irish World Cupper Bernard McNally.

The SBT team, led by the shrewd Asif Saheer, is without its dependable defender Abdul Basheer who underwent an operation recently after suffering a hand injury during the Kerala inter-district championship in Malappuram early this month.

“But the rest are okay,” said Sethumadhavan.

Unfortunately, despite the presence of the young Pune FC and teams like SBT and HAL which figured in the premier NFL a few years ago, the turnout has been very thin in Pune.

“That’s the sad part. Very few people to watch us,” said Sethumadhavan.

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