We now know who is going to be in the final of The Hero Indian Super League 2016 after last night's game between Delhi Dynamos and Kerala Blasters ended up going to penalties with Kerala coming out as eventual winners.
Kerala went into the game with a one goal advantage from the semi final first leg and set out to try and increase that lead rather than sit back and see if see if a draw would take them through. Delhi also started in a very positive frame of mind but were rocked back when their central midfield player Milan Singh received a red card after about 30 minutes for a very high tackle on Mehtab Hossain. Though they played from then on with only 10 men Delhi were the better side but failed to convert any of the chances created until Marcelinho scored and tied the game at 1-1. Their joy was short lived as Duckens Nazon replied for Kerala immediately with a good individual goal to again put Kerala in front on aggregate. As the first half came towards an end Delhi surprised even themselves by stealing a second goal from a free kick, a deflected header by centre back Ruben Rocha, and again bringing the game to all square. The second half and both the periods of extra time were goalless, and Delhi still looked the better footballing team even though a man short. Kerala wasted chance after chance by individuals trying to steal the glory for themselves. It was to be a penalty shoot out. Josu from Kerala was first up, even though he was now suspended for the final having picked up a second yellow card, and he got Kerala off to the perfect start with a solid penalty. Florent Malouda strode up purposefully to take the first for Delhi, the best Marquee player of the season, and surprised everybody in the stadium by blasting his penalty miles over the top of the crossbar. He was not on his own, two more penalties were missed by Delhi from their first four with Kerala's Antonio German also missing. Kerala were therefore through to the final and another meeting with Atletico de Kolkata on Sunday 18th December. This fixture is a repeat of the 2014 final which eventually saw Kolkata crowned as the first Champions of the Hero Indian Super League. After working at both semi final venues over the last two days I am now sitting on a Vistara plane at Delhi airport heading to Kochi, in Kerala, the venue for the final. It is expected to attract a full house again, but personally I think it will be a full house plus a few thousand more.
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Well it is the last game for FC Mumbai City at their home ground this evening as they take on Atletico do Kolkata for a place in the final of the Hero Indian Super League 2016. Kolkata lead after the first leg of the semi final which saw more goals than expected and ended with Kolkata beating Mumbai 3-2 and hence have just the one goal lead going into the second leg.
The other semi final finished 1-0 in Kerala's favour against Delhi with the second leg being played in Delhi tomorrow evening. I will be catching the early flight tomorrow morning to be there in plenty of time and I hope that Kerala Blaster can hold on to their one goal advantage and take a place in the final at their own stadium in front of another full house on Sunday 18th December, So lots to play for both tonight and tomorrow with those final places up for grabs. One thing that is for sure and that is if Kerala Blasters do make the final on Sunday then we can expect another packed stadium which will be rocking hours before the game starts. Today is Matchday for our crew this time in Delhi and all the rigging crew would have been down at the stadium since yesterday making sure all the equipment is in order and ready to go. At the last game here there was a ban on using any generators because of the smog issues, which all our equipment usually relies on, and had to connect with the local electrical supply!
I am usually at breakfast on a Matchday by 9am, and the quality of breakfast varies from hotel to hotel and could be anything from a dosa to tomatoes on toast, pancakes or muesli and fruit. Coffee could be a great or a bad choice and fruit juice could be brilliant and varied with mango juice, orange juice, sweet lime, or watermelon! In Pune and Guwahati they will make up your own juices for you. I am usually joined at breakfast by my fellow commentator either John Helm or Andy Paschialidis which gives us a chance to chat through whatever is in the morning papers or go over last night's ISL game. At around 11am I like to slip into the gym for a couple of hours and get a bit of a sweat on. For the vast majority of the time here in India you are sitting down, either on the plane, at the airport or at the stadium or hotel, so it is good to have a jog and a swim when possible. The 'Talent', as we are referred to on call sheets, that being the commentators and presenter/reporter, usually leave the hotel for the stadium at around 3.15pm/3.30pm, with lunch provided at the stadium with the rest of the production crew. Kick off is always at 7pm and the teams arrive at the stadium 2 hours prior to kick off. Our journey from the hotel to the stadium by car is usually pretty eventful, driving over here is an art of fighting for every inch available on the road and basically doing what you want, going where you want and making sure that everybody knows what you are doing. Whether that means going down the motorway or slip road against the flow of traffic or overtaking on a blind bend on the crest of a hill, it is just normal over here. Once safely at the ground we check in with the director, Dave Horridge, for any last minute news, have a bit of lunch, then I go and settle into the commentary position. Sometimes I come down to have a chat with either a manager or some of the players as you get to know quite a lot of them. Last time I ventured onto pitchside in Goa, whilst waiting for John Helm to interview Bernard Mendy of Chennaiyin FC, I got blasted by the pitch sprinkler which completely soaked me, not only that but all the Atletico de Kolkata players were just walking past at the same time and had a right good laugh at my expense. Anyway after pitch side interviews I am usually back up in the stand behind the monitors in the commentary position at least 90 minutes prior to kick off. The final team sheets come through about an hour before the game and this is the first time that we get to see the line ups and can then try to sort out what formations the teams might play. At 7pm the game starts and we are there for the next 2 hours until after the game finishes and we have announced the daily award winners, then making our way onto the pitch for a quick 2 minute interview between the two commentators chatting about the game or the league in situation in general. Once the interview are done then it is back to hotel, a quick couple of beers and bed because the following day we check out, which could be pretty early sometimes, and move on to the airport and a flight to the next venue. We then usually check into the hotel, have something to eat, sleep and then repeat the above for another Matchday. Tomorrow morning we leave Mumbai after a five day break and head down to Kerala for the first leg of the second semi final between Kerala Blasters and Delhi Dynamos. The other semi final starts this Saturday night between Atletico de Kolkata and FC Mumbai City. I think we could well see a Mumbai - Delhi final, but my heart wants Kerala to make the final. The 60,000 regular supporters who cram into their stadium deserve to see their home team in the final of the Hero Indian Super League which is being played this year in Kerala. The atmosphere will be electric whether The Blasters make the final or not, but if they do then watch out because it will be something of a unique and special occasion. After the first leg of the Blasters v Dynamos semi final we head back up to Delhi for the second leg next Wednesday and hopefully there will no serious problems or flight delays caused by the smog. The other semi final will be completed a night earlier on Tuesday so Kerala and Delhi will know who they could meet in the final should they win through. After that it is back down to Kerala for the final on Sunday 18th December and the climax of the Hero Indian Super League 2016.
It gives me a lot of pleasure just thinking of some of the great strikers that I had the pleasure of playing with. There are also numerous fantastic players in that position that I came up against during the twenty years of playing. Dalglish and Rush, Joe Jordan, Mark Hughes, David Speedie, Andy Gray, Gary Shaw, Trevor Francis, the list is endless. This piece is about players that I played with at either club or international level. I was honoured to play for Ipswich, Leicester City, Southampton, Bristol City, Brighton and finally Cardiff City. A great striker, in my opinion, needs to posses great mental and physical courage, composure, concentration and craft. Craft is knowing what you job is all about, in possession of the ball and without it, concentration is all about being alert for that one chance that might come your way in 90 minutes. Composure is then being able to take that chance or being able to make the right decision in front of goal. Physical courage is obvious, and in the seventies and eighties it really was a physical game. Strikers had to have mental courage also, to be available for their team mates to pass to even if it meant another kicking from an opposing 'hod carrier'. Mental courage to go one on one with the opposing keeper I front of the Kop at Anfield or the Stetford End at Old Trafford. I think it was Brian Clough who used to say that good players used to be able to tick 3 boxes, mental strength, physical strength and natural ability, and he reckoned that if at least 9 out of your 12 man squad didn't tick all 3 boxes then there was no point in playing the game. The mental strength element was always the most questionable quality, and Mr Clough didn't get too much wrong in his day! My target man would be my old team mate Paul Mariner, fit, strong, brave and brilliant in the air. Paul knew how to look after himself on the pitch, and it could be brutal at times, but he never shirked at challenge ever. Paul was a great target for defenders to play the ball to, he had a great touch and would always try to make even a crap pass look good. To play alongside Paul I have chosen Alan Brazil, a great goal scorer with great fitness, pace, and bags of natural ability.
Alan was and still is the best one on one finisher I have ever seen, he used to bamboozle goalkeepers, even our own at Ipswich who knew what he was trying to do. Alan scored one of the best goals I have ever seen, playing at Bolton in the famous game where Frank Worthington scored his 'lucky' goal, Alan's was even better! To go with Paul and Alan there is only one choice, a player who started his pro career at Southampton and has a goal scoring record at Club and International level second to none. Alan Shearer would be my third musketeer, a player who overcame some very bad injuries in his time but never lost his courage, craft, concentration or composure. I think those three would be a challenge for any back four in the world, Brazil's running power, the physicality of Mariner and Shearer, a threat both on the ground and in the air, and the banter would be enough to drive anyone mad. My captain, someone who would be celebrating his birthday today would be Bobby Moore, RIP. The England 1966 World Cup winning captain would play in the back four alongside Terry Butcher, George Burley and Kenny Sansom, with Ray Clemence in goal. A midfield of Muhren, Wark and Le Tissier would supply a front three of Brazil, Mariner and Shearer, formidable. If you wonder about when I played with Bobby Moore; Tonight sees the final league game of The Hero Indian Super League 2016, between Kerala Blasters and North East United, and what a game it should turn out to be. Kerala Blasters need just a point to reach the 4th and final semi final spot which is still up grabs whilst North East United must win the game to do likewise. Blasters will have the benefit of playing in front of their own crowd which could number up to 60,000, so they must start the game as favourites, but we have seen many away victories in this season's league campaign and another would not be a surprise tonight. Already qualified are Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata but the result of tonight's game then dictates the final placing in the league and therefore determines who plays who in the two legged semi-finals. Mumbai will definitely finish top of the table and will play whoever finishes fourth and second will play third over two legs, i.e. home and away. The final placing once, the last game has finished, will be decided on points total as per normal, but if a team are tied on same points then it will go to head-to-head fixtures from the seasons results, this would kick in if Kerala drew tonight's match and were then level on 20 points with Atletico de Kolkata. ATK beat Kerala earlier on in the league so they would stay in third and Kerala qualify in fourth. Now we have a week off from matches as teams prepare for those semi-finals and we are based at the Trident Hotel, Nariman Point, Mumbai, which just happens to be the same hotel as the England test match team and the Sky Sports commmentary crew. I have already been able to see and have a chat with Mike Atherton and Ian Botham who both seem to be having a good time here in India. With the Test Match starting on the 8th of this month, in four days time, I think we will manage to get at least a couple of days at the Wankhede Stadium compliments of Star Sports. Now that the season is coming to end we lose most of Crew B, seen in the first photo, who are a wonderful gang of specialist electrical engineers, audio engineers, lighting and cameramen. All good guys who graft really hard and party even harder. It has been a pleasure to work with them over the last 10 weeks and I look forward to working with them all again in the future.
This morning I took a twenty five minute stroll from the Trident Hotel over to the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, fully recovered after the 2008 terrorist attack, opposite the Gateway for India which was built by the British Raj in 1924. There were thousands of tourists and locals having time to enjoy the views which stretch back across the Arabian Sea which wraps itself around the reclaimed land of Colaba. The sad thing about Mumbai is that as well as being the Bollywood film industry capital and having wealth in extremes, there are still and always have been, extremes of poverty. For every sight of magnificence there is also a picture that is hard to process, how can so many have so much and yet so many still have nothing. I know and appreciate that it is how Mumbai is, but it is still, and always will be, a shocking and sobering experience. |
AuthorRussell Osman is a former England & Ipswich Footballer, 4 Handicap Golfer and Father of 3. Archives
April 2018
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