KOZHIKODE: ONE of them has played in the AFC Cup, eleven others are part of either an I-League or an ISL club. The Kerala Santosh Trophy team’s 20-member squad has talent in abundance.
This was on show in the opening match of the Santosh Trophy South Zone qualifiers where the hosts thrashed Andhra Pradesh 5-0 at the EMS Corporation Stadium, Kozhikode on Tuesday.
While Andhra had players from district-level clubs, Kerala’s starting eleven alone had seven players part of a national-level club. This is part of a growing trend of clubs letting their reserve team players participate in the Santosh Trophy to get some match time.
Leon Augustine is one such example. The Bengaluru FC academy product progressed all the way to the first team and participated in the AFC Cup in 2018 against Abahani Dhaka. He then dropped down the pecking order and now, it is all about climbing his way back up.
“We want game time and being on the bench is of no use. So we are in search of playing time and wherever we get it, we should take it. I played for Karnataka in the Santosh Trophy for one season. The team had many reserve players from BFC and we finished third that year. It was a valuable experience,” said Augustine. The 21-year-old finished with one goal and one assist on Tuesday.
Another goalscorer was Emil Benny who came off the bench to score two and looked a constant threat. The 19-year-old moved to Gokulam Kerala FC from Kerala Blasters just a month ago and Santosh Trophy is his rite of passage. It is his first senior tournament and it has started on the right note for him.
“Playing for Kerala is a matter of pride and at the same time, I get to play alongside players who are involved with ISL and I-League clubs which is a great learning experience. Also, I get to play under an experienced coach like Bino George. The quality of opposition was not up to the mark today but as the tournament progresses, it will get tougher. It is good for us youngsters,” said Emil.
Kerala are reaping the benefits of having two national level clubs from the state. Six players in the squad are from Gokulam Kerala FC while three are from Kerala Blasters. They also have one player each from Chennaiyin FC, Bengaluru FC and Ozone FC. Another goalscorer of the day was Shihad N who is a Gokulam product.
“Kerala have ISL and I-League calibre players and that was on full display today. We don’t even have a proper league back in Andhra Pradesh. We selected some players from district teams and had a brief camp in Bengaluru. They are like college-level footballers,” said Andhra coach Deena Bandhu Raj.
Kerala finished the match 5-0 but they could have easily added another five goals to the total. Such was the gulf in class. Result: Kerala 5 (Vibin Thomas 44, Leon Augustine 45+2, Emil Benny 53, 63, Shihad N 90+3) Andhra Pradesh 0.