I-League: Minerva reclaim Punjab's glory

PANCHKULA: Minerva Punjab FC wrote a fitting sequel to the Cinderella-like stories of the I-League. After Mizoram club Aizawl FC’s fairytale triumph set the template last season, India’s national football league was treating the country’s growing football fans to another one this time.
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Written off as a relegation candidate at the start of the season, the Mohali-based side held fast to their rapidly draining form at season’s end in their second season in topflight, to thumb their nose at all the skeptics.
ALSO READ: Minerva Punjab create I-League history
With Ghanaian midfielder William Asiedu’s 16th minute goal being enough to seal the win over Churchill Brothers, a former champion I-League themselves but one who needed a win to beat relegation on Thursday, Minerva were making history of so many kinds. And as they kept out big guns East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and Neroca - the I-League debutants from Manipur - from pipping them to the post, so many things footballing came full circle.
In 2005, Minerva started off as a six-a-side academy team hoping to play as many matches as they could in and around Chandigarh. Today, thirteen years later, they are the champion football club of India.
The I-League itself in an underdog of sorts. Being stripped off its standing, despite its prestige and legacy, by the onslaught of the cash-rich ISL and a complicit national federation, and relegated to second class status, the I-League once again managed to show that true football will hold sway.
The triumph evoked memories of JCT, Phagwara’s maiden triumph in 1996-97 – the inaugural national football club title – for the then National Football League, and a team from Punjab winning it. Over two decades ago, JCT were the first galactico side in Indian football, relying on the cream of the country’s stars to deliver them the national title in a memorable hard-fought contest. Superstars IM Vijayan, Carlton Chapman, Jo Paul Ancheri and Bhaichung Bhutia formed the spine in a side that was complete with hard-running local talent from Punjab, the redoubtable Tejinder Kumar being the natural leader of the mix.
Minerva may have emulated JCT’s feat, but they turned coach Sukhwinder Singh’s (who was present in Panchkula to witness history being created once again) model on the head to achieve the same end. The club borrowed generously from their academy-based pool, using players who came through the Minerva academy ranks to form the nucleus of the side. That they hired Khogen Singh, a low-profile academy coach, to steer the side only underlines the point, and Khogen’s posttriumph admission that defender Sukhdev Singh was the unsung hero of their campaign further emphasizes their philosophy. “Sukkhi is the best Indian player in the team. He is the one for the future. He had played every game in the season and was consistent in every match,” Khogen said of the Garhshanker boy.
Flair, as it were, was added by an unknown Bhutanese striker who sparked the early impetus for the winners. Chencho Gyeltshen ended up as joint third-highest scorer in the season with seven goals. As fatigue caught up with them and their form dipped at the final stretch, it was up to William, Kassim Aidara and Eric Dano to prop them up. A further indication of their robust academy structure is that Minerva’s senior club title follows the All India Football Federation’s (AIFF) youth I-League title won earlier this year.
Thursday’s ‘final’ itself got off to a feisty but sloppy start but Mineva soon took charge.
Minerva Punjab FC owner Ranjit Bajaj celebrating with players after they were crowned I-League ChampionsThey surged into the lead, capitalising on a Churchill error. Chencho pounced on a poor Monday Osagie clearance but saw his shot spilled by Churchill goalkeeper Cardozo. In the melee, William Opoku tucked in a deflection from close. In a sense, the goal mirrored the nature of Minerva’s triumphant campaign. It was close, but in the end, no one was complaining.