Do- or- Die. Yes it is the situation for the defending Fed Cup champion to keep their hope alive in 31st Fed Cup at Guwahati. 13th time Fed Cup champion Mohun Bagan started with a grand style by beating Mohammedan Sporting 4-1. But in the next match it was a goalless draw with another Kolkata outfit Chirag. Referee Khamba Singh had shown his capability to spoil a match by deciding some horrible decisions. At last the match was become the wrestling field of the Chirag players. It may be their coach’s popular strategy.
However, it is now Mahindra on 26th December evening. The last match of Group-B and the deciding one for the semifinal. In fact, Mahindra is in the better position after getting victory against both MSC and CU. Draw is enough for them to reach in to the semifinal, which will be played the last day of the year 2009.
Mariners Coach Kareem Bencherifa is confident enough for his team about reaching in to the semifinal. He told that his boys are very much focused not only about the match against Mahindra but about the tournament also. Snehasis was offered to get back to Kolkata due to his broken left hand by chief coach, but he refused it and stayed there with the team. That is the example of team spirit of our team Mohun Bagan.
The three foreigners evergreen Barreto, Chiddi, Sueoka are the main weapons of Kareem. Apart from them wing play of James and Surkumar Singh is also proven very effective. Injured deep defender veteran Dipak Mondal may back in the team in place of Sagram Mandi. Mandi played well in the last match against Chirag United. But the service of left half Snehasis Chakraborty will be missed heavily by the team, Isfaq will play in place of him.
On the other hand Mahindra Coach David Booth also wants to celebrate Chirstmass by reaching in to the semifinal of the Fed Cup. In this season these two teams met each other a couple of times in the IFA Shield and Durand Cup. In the Durand Cup Mariners got victory against this Mumbai outfit whereas in the IFA Shield the match was drawn. Sveto Mijin, Steven Dias, Rafi, ex-CU player Muritala Ali are the key players for Mahindra United.
Probable line-up for Mohun Bagan : Sangram Mukherjee (C), Surkumar Singh, Sk Azim, Dipak Mondal, Biswajit Saha, James Singh, Rakesh Masih, Sueoka Ryuji, Isfaq Ahmed, Jose Ramirez Barreto, Edeh Chidi.
Reserve Bench: Shilton Pal (GK), Sagram Mandi, Zenith, Souvick Chakraborty, Subho Kumar, Mickey Fernandez, Tomba Singh, Suraj Mondal.
Overall, relation between Fed Cup and Mohun Bagan is something different. So the supporters should hope for the best result. We wish all the very best to the team Mohun Bagan on behalf of mohunbaganclub.com. Live update will be available in this site right from the kick-off.
Picture Courtesy : Ganashakti