The weather wet and pleasant, the pitch an absolute beauty to play on and the atmosphere in and around the stadium was electric with IFFK members in full attendance. This was the scene on the eve of the 6th round matches of the ongoing IFFK League at the astro turf ground at the Daiya School on 11th December 2009.
The 1st match of the day was played between Santos United and MAC at 7.30am. Santos United was depleted in their attendance as players are on holidays due to commencement of the holiday season and MAC were out to prove that they are no mere pushovers. The match began with Santos United dominating the proceedings early on with Godwin marshalling the midfield and James Rebello excelling up front. MAC were slow in their start and just could not get in to their grove at the onset and were seen defending initially. Santos United took the lead through James Rebello and Basheer Kutty made it 2-0.
MAC increased their tempo and in one such move reduced the margin through Abdul Rahman to enter the lemon break with hopes of an early equalizer. The second half started with both the teams showing much promise. Santos United searching for the third goal and MAC lining up for the equalizer. MAC showed much promise and vigor in the second half and were unlucky not to equalize when a 15 yard shot from the hard working Abdul Rahman stung the cross bar and went out with Santos United goalkeeper rooted to the ground. MAC had to bow down to the pressure applied by Santos United with match ending in favor of Santos United 2-1. If only MAC strikers and midfielders had to convert the chances which came their way then the score line would have been different in the end. It may be noted that Santos United is a well improved team this season with excellent midfielders and strikers and kudos to their management for their tireless efforts. Today’s was a much better performance by MAC considering the outcome of their previous two matches and showed everybody that they keep on improving as time goes on.
The second match was between seasoned campaigners AVC-Kuwait and new entrants INDIANS. AVC-Kuwait being unaware of the playing tactics of INDIANS and their unfamiliar line-up started the match cautiously. INDIANS did well to hold their opponents for the first 15 minutes of the first half with their goalkeeper excelling. AVC-Kuwait forged ahead when a well directed shot from Francis (Sr.) from the top of the box was deflected by Joe into his own goal much to the dismay of his goalkeeper. This opened the floodgates and AVC- Kuwait after gauging their opponents initially went on the onslaught with more goals from Francis (Sr.) Anthony and Braulio reading the lemon break scoreline 4-0 in favor of AVC. The second half started with a flourish for AVC-Kuwait and their star striker Anthony Rodrigues notched his second consecutive hattrick in the league and substitute Molvito also sounding the scoreboard. INDIANS did make a foray in AVC’s penalty area during the later stage of the match and were duly awarded a penalty, but unfortunately could not reduce the margin as AVC’s substitute goalkeeper and tie-breaker specialist Nikush stopped the spot kick much to the dismay of INDIANS supporters and players. The game ended with the score 8-0 in favor of AVC-Kuwait. Overall it was a clinical display by AVC-Kuwait and a job well done. INDIANS showed much promise throughout the match in terms of holding their opponents at bay, but their strikers and midfielders will have to get their act together to match the opposition in their future matches.
Both the games were professionally officiated by Indian Football Referees Association (IFRA) which is the only professional and registered body amongst the Indian expatriate football officials in Kuwait. It may be noted that all the matches played so far in this season have been extremely disciplined and the credit goes to the professional approach shown by IFFK, IFRA and the affiliates. Though there is intense competition and rivalry on the field, but off the field the same is converted into friendship and respect. And finally to those who are eagerly waiting to know how far and long Indian Football Federation- Kuwait will go, IFFK management suggests measuring the horizon to get the exact answer.
Posted by IndianFootballFederationKuwait
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