It has been close to three decades since Kerala last triumphed in the Santosh Trophy on home soil. The hosts are eager to end the long wait as the final round of the national football championship gets under way at Malappuram on Saturday.
Kerala, coached by Bino George and captained by Jijo Joseph, are placed in Group A along with Rajasthan, Meghalaya and traditional powerhouses West Bengal and Punjab. The top two sides from each group will qualify for the semifinals. The Kerala players, who open their campaign against Rajasthan on Saturday, have been training hard at the EMS Stadium in Kozhikode for the past three weeks. The final list of 20 from a 30-member preliminary squad was finalised on Wednesday.
"We have been training in Kozhikode from March 20. The players are all fit. We have played friendly matches against a few clubs and college teams. The onus has been on getting the formations right," Jijo told Onmanorama over the phone.
The 30-year-old midfielder from Thrissur is the senior-most player in the Kerala squad. It will be the 7th Santosh Trophy for the State Bank of India player, who missed the South Zone qualifiers held in Kochi due to a groin injury. "I sat out of the qualifiers due to the injury. Once I regained fitness I turned up for KSEB in the recent KPL (Kerala Premier League) as a guest player. However, as a precautionary measure I opted out of the semifinals and final," said Jijo.
It will be the maiden Santosh Trophy for a majority of the Kerala players. But Jijo is quick to point out that unlike in the past, the youngsters are experienced. "Five-six years back there used to be very few Under-25 players in the Santosh Trophy squad. But the present generation has the experience of playing club football and they don't feel overawed. As compared to departmental team members, those who play for the clubs have more exposure. Also there has to be at least three U-21 players in the playing XI (in Santosh Trophy) and I am sure the youngsters will do the job."
Jijo is teaming up with his former Viva Kerala coach Bino and the two share a special bonding. "Bino sir was my coach when I was with the Viva Kerala junior team. He has been in charge of the Santosh Trophy teams in the past too. We have great rapport and he used to call me whenever there was an exciting offer. But I turned them down since I did not want to leave a secure job," said Jijo, who is posted as a clerical staff in Thiruvananthapuram.
Jijo is confident of putting up a fine show in front of the home supporters. "It will be great to win the Cup. The key is to play well as the crowd loves those who play an attractive game. We know there are no easy games. Teams like Goa and Mizoram even failed to make it to the final round. The competition is intense and we are looking to start positively with a win in our opening game. Hopefully that will set the tone for our campaign," added Jijo.
