This football-obsessed city dreamt of this moment a little
more than two months back when country’s first private international football league
kickstarted in this city itself among massive fanfare. What made it special was
that it was co-dreamt by its loved warrior prince. Atletico de Kolkata started
with a stunning opener of Indian Super League and kept the tempo
burning...before it hit a plateau from the middle of the season till the end
(the precise reason why I haven’t blogged about it so far). It lost its league
topper position and the ‘undefeated’ distinction down the way. And then it crawled
to the semis. The home match was a disappointment, adding to its increasing
list of draw games. When the away match took it to the coveted finals, the dreaming
eyes were wide open again.
It was an exciting match with some attacking football. So much
so that some moments found the box unguarded at either end. But the ninety
minutes didn’t see a single goal again. ATK didn’t have its full strength. Its out-of-form
striker Fikru had been dropped from the squad earlier and the skipper and
marquee player Louis Garcia had to watch from the sidelines due to a hamstring
injury. As injury time started rolling, we got ready for a tie-breaker decider
which would fall short of a desired triumph if in our favour. And
then..............the moment came from an underdog. The match was over soon.
The dream came true. We are the champions of the first ever Indian Super League!
Mohd Rafique, take a bow for that stunner of a header off
the measured corner kick that gave us the first ISL and made history. You gave ‘opportunistic’
a new meaning in your replacement stint of those few minutes (Due credit to the coach for this). Despite your short height, you emerged the
tallest among all in the evening. And the icing of the cake, again, is the fact
that you are from this city.
A shoutout to our ‘wall’ Bete on the goal line too. Had it
not been for that incredible save off Kerala’s aggressive striker Michael
Chopra, the match would have ended differently.
 |
| Atletico de Kolkata with the trophy. Also seen are Ms Neeta Ambani of Reliance, co-promoter of ISL and ATK co-owners Utsav Parekh (sixth from left sitting) and Sanjeev Goenka next to him. Mohd Rafique is sitting next to Ms Ambani and the trophy, facing. |
 |
| ATK coach Antonio Habas and co-owner Saurav Ganguly with the trophy |
And yes, my heart goes to Kerala Blasters. Not because it
gave us some wonderful buddy moments with Saurav and Sachin who watched the
match from the stands cheering for their respective owned teams, but for the
superb football it gave us in the final. If we are the champs, they’re not far
off.
I sincerely hope ISL lives the football dream of this nation
in every possible way. The eyes will be on spotting and nurturing talent from
all corners in for the long term. The euphoria that it has generated is enough to
drive that.
