Goa has attracted great support with its performance in this football-crazy state thousands of kilometres away from its actual home. It will be counting on this fan factor to motivate itself against a strong Services in the final and regain the Santosh Trophy, the cup that will go to the winner of the 77th National Football Championship.
The title clash at the Golden Jubilee Stadium here on Saturday is expected to see a keen contest as both Services and Goa are former champions and have overcome gritty opponents like Mizoram and Manipur.
As it remains the standard of the competition has been quite high with most of the teams showing great competitive spirit with their homegrown talents.
The Goa squad is a composition of players harvested from clubs that play in the Second Division of the national league structure. Their comeback performance to tumultuous support against the efficiency and flair of Manipur, which led till late in the injury-time in the semifinal, gave out a lot about Goa’s position as one of the most talented teams in the competition. This is underlined by the fact that the five-time champion Goa has not tasted defeat in 11 outings so far and would be looking to make the most of this record when it makes its 14th appearance in the final.
Services also has a rich experience of reaching the top stage of this competition. It will be aiming for its seventh title while making a 12th entry to the final. For Services, it will be an opportunity to avenge the 1-2 defeat it suffered against Goa when the two met earlier in the group stage.
Goa enjoys the edge even on the overall count. The two sides have met 11 times in the tournament, with Goa winning five times and the Services emerging victorious on three occasions. The remaining three ended in a draw.
Kick-off: 7 p.m.
