Kerala crashed out of the Santosh Trophy after losing a thrilling penalty shootout 6-7 to Mizoram in the quarterfinals in Yupia, Arunachal Pradesh on Tuesday.
The match entered shootout after it remained goalless for 120 minutes. Subsitute Sujith VR missed the decisive spot kick to send Mizoram into the semifinals, where they will meet Services on Thursday. Manipur and Goa will play the second semifinal the same day.
Kerala couldn't call themselves unlucky though the kicks from the spot are so often decided on luck. Satheevan Balan's side had not created enough throughout the game. After 90 minutes of close battle, the two halves of extra time were devoid of magic.
Mizoram had the ball in the back of the net in the first half of extra time, but the referee spotted a hand ball in the build up. Lalremruata thought he had emulated Argentine legend Diego Maradona's infamous 'hand of God' moment, but the offense was spotted and Kerala were spared the ignominy of injustice in the age of VAR.
That moment of sly improvisation aside, the extra time lacked quality. Tired legs seemed to beg for spot kicks for the game to be done with. A Mizoram corner in the 116th minute showed just how much of a toll the game has taken on the minds and bodies of the players.
Earlier, the game that was cagey in the first half was more lively in the final 45, but it cried for inspiration, which neither side could provide.
Kerala's game appeared more purposeful in the second half while Mizoram struggled to bypass a cluttered midfield. But Mizoram's chances were restricted to wishful attempts from range or angles suiting a worldie. Malsawmzuala went for one in the 80th minute but fired into the side netting. To their relief, though, Kerala did not create enough chances either.
To make matters worse, Kerala lost a handful of its best players to injuries. Even returning captain Nijo Gilbert, who had pulled up in the group stages, was replaced within minutes of coming off the bench. Abdu Raheem and Naresh were others that went off injured.
Striker Ashiq, who appeared frustrated at the top, was forced off as he was booked and seemed edgy. He could have scored though ten minutes into the second half when a diagonal ball from defence delivered by Sanju found him. His first touch was elegant, but the shot was wayward.
Mizoram did try to come out of their comfort zone late in the match, but they failed to trouble Azhar. They did plead for a penalty earlier in the second half when Ephraim went down in the box after a Nithin Madhu tackle, but the referee gave a clean chit to the Kerala right back.
Kerala could not take advantage of the set pieces even with taller players. It was the delivery that was suspect quite often as was evident in a second half freekick from Arjun, just outside the box, that was calmly collected by Lalmuanawma in the Mizoram goal.
For the neutral fans in Arunachal, the day had started with a flurry of goals as Manipur crushed Assam 7-1 in an earlier quarterfinal.
Naresh Bhagyanathan hit a post after Lalmuanawma applied a glove to his left foot drive in the closing stages of the first half.
But Kerala were far from fluent as the forwards were guilty of being wasteful when the moments did arrive.
Ashiq could have opened the scoring in the first minute but scuffed his shot which required a stretch from Lalmuanawma, who injured himself in the process of saving it.
Safneed slid in but was late to a perfect layoff from Ashiq.
Mizoram were more clinical, though they lacked the conviction to beat Azhar. The goalkeeper was forced into a save early on when Lalthankima flicked a header off a cross from Ephraim. He would round the keeper in first half added time, but dragged himself wide in the process and the chance was wasted.
