Durand Cup 2022: Indian Football’s Perfect Curtain-Raiser
Durand Cup 2022: Indian Football’s Perfect Curtain-Raiser. This past weekend the 131st edition of Asia’s oldest club football competition came to a close at the Salt Lake Stadium and Bengaluru FC came out on top.
The Durand Cup this year was an exciting watch because there were 130 goals scored in 47 matches. In addition, the three stadiums (Kolkata, Imphal, and Guwahati) provided a great show as well for the fans that came out to support their local club.
Similar to the final, the styles of these two teams could not be more different. However, this made for an intense game for even bigger stakes.
The team’s lay-out has changed, opting for a reliable defense and aggressive counter-attacks under Simon Grayson to be a successful home side. This is their first trophy in 1,281 days and the drought is over.
Mumbai City successfully implemented their possession-based counter-pressing style against Bengaluru FC in their 2-1 win on Wednesday. Playing the odds, Greg Stewart and Alberto Noguera have given them more opportunities to control possession and develop dangerous transitions in front of their goalkeeper Baptiste
Josep Gombau is back in charge of Odisha and they are playing some pretty good football. They didn’t concede a goal so far, but they were eliminated on a Roy Krishna’ s effort in the extra-time of their loss.
Mumbai City weren’t the only team to thump Mohammedan Sporting in the group stages. Led by their inspirational Marcus Joseph, and with their full support, they were a tough opponent for the other two finalists, who had already taken a point off them before the group stages.
Greg Stewart has shown that all of the things he did last year, he can do again with ease this season. With his ability to drift all across the final third, Elusive on Boots and two-footed goal scorer is a constant threat. His eye for a pass ensured that Jorge Pereyra Diaz was always one constant threat as well, with their incredible movement always ensuring Mumbai City never were out of range for goals.
Despite his mediocre scoring record, one of the biggest arguments has always been that Lallianzuala Chhangte is a tremendous talent. However, in the last two seasons he scored only five goals total for Bengaluru FC, raising concerns about how many fans he was actually reaching.
In this campaign, Chhangte may have found the perfect environment to translate his ability and skill into tangible output. In the Durand Cup, he scored 7 goals which won him the Golden Boot. Overall for Chennaiyin FC, Des Buckingham employed Chhangte on the right wing so that he could cut inside on to his stronger left foot. Chhangte hopes that this tournament is the launch-pad for bigger things to come in the Indian Super League
A striker, who many had previously spoken of as a “huge prospect”, is here and it’s not easy to break into a front two that has Roy Krishna and Sunil Chhetri in it, but Sivasakthi has done just that. This is despite him being on the bench for most of the tournament, but doing everything in his power to replace those big starts, coming on for the final in the process.
With a strong display of audacity, he even managed to make the most of his side’s chances drastically in the final. Ability, mentality, intelligence, and proven finishing did not waiver for the young man as he has it all.
Rajasthan United has been an unexpected surprise, with their strong and aggressive play in the 2018 Indian Super League, that reminds everyone of Pep Guardiola’s style.
Rajasthan made a stunning comeback against Juan Ferrando’s expensively-assembled squad, drew against East Bengal and won against the Indian Navy to qualify for the knockout stage ahead of Kolkata rivals East Bengal and Hyderabad. Their journey ended at the hands of Hyderabad in an exciting match, but this was a team that wanted to show Indian football fans they are not just here to make up the numbers.
Until Sunday night, Bengaluru goal machine Sunil Chhetri strangely had not won the Durand Cup despite playing on a well-established club in India. However, this changed as Bengaluru beat Mumbai 2-0 at Kolkata. Chhetri now has a seventh cup to go alongside his 130 international caps and 34 international goals
The Durand Cup of India was historically a pre-season tournament that existed alongside the I-League. The growth of both tournaments over the last season shows that future competitions could include all teams in the ISL choosing to play in this competition next year.
Coach Igor Stimac has built a team that’s in top shape in preparation for India’s upcoming schedule. There are two friendlies against Singapore and Vietnam before the league season starts, but players that have been training all year now have been added to the national team camp to mutually work together.
Read More: Celebrating The Winning Team: Sunil Chhetri Takes To Social Media After Durand Cup