LaLiga World: Girona lift cup; Kerala Blasters win hearts despite loss

Girona FC put five goals past a resolute Kerala Blasters team to win the LaLiga World pre-season tournament. The new exciting experiment in Indian football, initiated by the Kerala Blasters, ended with iconic scenes as both the home team and the Spanish visitors conducted the Kochi crowd in two thunderous renditions of the Viking clap. Despite the scoreline, it was a win for both Kochi and Indian football.

Both teams made a number of changes to their line-ups from their matches against Melbourne City FC. The most experienced goalkeeper in the Kerala Blasters squad, 29-year-old Naveen Kumar, who has been woefully short of game time in his career, replaced 18-year-old Dheeraj Singh. Ghanaian midfielder Courage Pekuson, who had looked bright as a substitute against Melbourne City, got a start. So did Kerala’s own Zakeer Mundampara, 28, and 18-year-old defender Mohamad Rakip.

Girona FC made nine changes to the starting XI from the previous game. Only midfielder Pere Pons Riera and defender Juan Pedro Ramirez Lopez (Juanpe) were retained. But the changes did not seem to have affected Girona much and they started on the front foot as expected. Kerala Blasters barely got a touch of the ball in the opening minutes except for desperate interceptions and clearances.

Kerala Blasters had their first decent spell of possession in the ninth minute. The ball found Serbian striker Slavisa Stojanovic in the box, but he failed to get it under his control. But the home crowd were ecstatic that the Kerala Blasters had managed to breach the opposition’s defence. Girona continued to attack and won a few corners and free-kicks. But some superb defending, especially by Kerala Blasters’s captain Sandesh Jhingan, coupled with poor finishing saw them unable to take the lead. After 15 minutes without conceding and a string of bad misses by the Girona attackers, the home crowd started to believe that a miracle was possible.

The drum beats could be heard incessantly now. Every touch, tackle, block or clearance by a player in a yellow shirt was cheered and Mexican waves could be seen, albeit intermittently, in the crowd. A good move by the Kerala Blasters came to nothing in the 20th minute when 21-year-old Ugandan midfielder Keziron Kizito overhit a pass to Jhingan at right-back. Just as the Kerala outfit were starting to see more of the ball, a mistake in possession led to a foul in the 22nd minute and the game’s first yellow card for Zakeer. The resultant free-kick, from a dangerous position, was hit over the bar by midfielder Ruben Alcaraz.

After one-third of the game, the scores were, unbelievably, still level. Girona’s Congolese youngster Yhoan Andzouana was making inroads on the left, but was denied by some determined defending by the men in yellow. An incredible sliding tackle by Jhingan in the 34th minute denied Girona’s Cameroonian striker Kevin Soni a tap in. The very next minute, midfielder Pedro Porro cut in from the left and curled one towards the far corner. He had almost wheeled away in celebration, but the shot was saved on to the post and out by Kumar. Kerala Blasters defended the corner pretty comfortably and were now trying to move the ball forward themselves.

Girona were lacking the incisive quality that their regular starters showed in the last match, but were still moving the ball easily. But the Kerala Blasters defence stood firm. The breakthrough for Girona came in the 42nd minute. Twenty-year-old reserve team right-back Eric Montes Arce ran on to a pass by Porro and smashed one in from near-impossible angle. Girona deserved at least one more goal and nearly got one in first half stoppage time. Alcaraz hit a stinging long ranger that bounced back off the cross-bar. And that is how the half ended. The Kerala Blasters defended superbly, but were assisted by the lack of composure in the final third by Girona’s mostly second-string team.

The second half started much in the same way as the first did with Girona dictating play. Their second goal came in the 54th minute. Half-time substitute David Timor crossed in dangerously from the left, Jhingan missed the clearance and Porro had an easy finish, though he managed to make it look difficult. The third goal came three minutes later. Andzouana played in a low cross for captain Alex Granell to slot home first-time. Despite being three goals down, Kerala Blasters retained belief and a surging run by Slovenian striker Matej Poplatnik saw Blasters win a free-kick in a dangerous position near the 60-minute mark. Half-time substitute Bernardo Espinosa was yellow-carded for his foul on Poplatnik. Pekuson drew a good save from the Girona goalkeeper with a well-taken free-kick. In the 64th minute, there was concern in the crowd as starters such as Borja Garcia, Aleix Garcia and Portu took to the field.

The game changed and Girona’s moves became much sharper, with Kerala Blasters barely staying in the game. The occasional ball forward by Blasters resulted in huge cheers from the home crowd, but it was more a story of grit and determination for the ISL team. An unfortunate deflection of a Blasters defender saw a shot from Girona substitute Aday Benitez loop over Kumar in the 73rd minute, resulting in the fourth goal. A good move by Kerala Blasters saw Timor having to handle the ball to deny the home team a clear run on the ball. A yellow card and furious roars from the crowd was his reward. Girona added a fifth in the 91st minute from an inexplicable penalty, and last game’s man of the match Aleix converted coolly from the spot.

The scoreline may read 0-5, but it was an impressive and determined performance by the team from Kerala against their Spanish opponents. A lot of positives for coach David James to be happy about. An eye-catching performance by goalkeeper Kumar may see him retain the starting position. Blasters definitely look good enough to have a decent run in the ISL this time, even without a marquee player. Their ever-faithful yellow army will be looking forward to seeing how this tough pre-season has benefited the team.