If further confirmation was required about Mizoram’s status as the champion State of Indian football it came on a lovely Monday night at this coastal city known for its love of the beautiful game. Mizoram’s brave little warriors won the National Games gold, beating Punjab 1-0 in the final, in front of more than 25,000 enamoured fans.
Exactly 11 months ago, they had written their first fairytale when they lifted the Santosh Trophy at Siliguri. Only two players from that side are here, but this group of youngsters played with as much confidence as they did not lose a single game in this event.
The two teams had met in the group stage five days ago; Mizoram won that match 2-0. Punjan played the final better, especially in the second half, but Mizoram ran out as deserving champion. The gold-medal winning goal was scored by Imanuel Lalthazuala in the 83rd minute.
It came off a corner kick taken by captain David Lalrinmuana, who had played a key role in Mizoram’s Santosh Trophy triumph.
Punjab’s normally reliable custodian Jagroop Singh, who had a great tournament till then, failed to gather the ball properly and an opportunistic Lalthazuala lunged forward and put it firmly into the net.
Punjab was taken aback by that goal, as it had been threatening to score in the second half with a series of threatening moves. Both sides had to play the last 25 minutes with 10 men apiece, as Mizoram’s B. Zoramthara and Punjab’s Sarbjit Singh were sent off after they pushed each other.
Punjab, for the second National Games in a row, had to settle for silver.
The results: Final: Mizoram 1 (Imanuel Lalthazuala 83) bt Punjab 0. Third place: Maharashtra 3 (Mohammed Irshad 32, Mario Mascarenhas 45-own goal, Sidharth Nayak 60) bt Goa 1.
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