Kolkata: The Semi-finals of the 130th edition of the prestigious Durand Cup are scheduled to begin from Monday September 25 at Vivekananda Yuvabharati Krirangan. While the first semifinal would see defending I-League 2nd division Champions Mohammedan Sporting Club take on another 2nd division I-League club FC Bengaluru United, the second semifinal would be an all Indian Super League show as FC Goa lock horns against Bengaluru FC. Throughout the round robin stages and the quarter finals, these teams have been exceptional although there are certain individual personalities we look forward to see more of in the final three games.
1. Harmanpreet Singh ( Bengaluru FC)- Bengaluru FC have been unbeaten till the semis , in the tournament and much of the credit goes to Harmanpreet Singh. His control of the ball along with his skill to cease the opportunity saw him score 3 important goals and assist even 3 more of them for the Blues.
2. Leon Augustine ( Bengaluru FC)- Talking of important goals for the Blues, the name that has to come up should be of Leon Augustine . Often entering the field as a sub, Leon had scored four important goals for the Blue that helped them keep up their dominating run.
3. Muhammad Nemil ( FC Goa)- Of some team had actually asserted dominance, the has to be FC Goa. Juan Ferrando boasts of the most effective midfield in the tournament consisting talents like Glan Martins, Brandon Fernandes and at time Edu Bedia, but the most striking individual in the midfield has to be 19 year old Muhammad Nemil. The Spain trained youngster has been more than flawless for the side creating and converting for the team. Even essentially being an midfielder Nemil is giving tough competition to forwards like Marcus Joseph, Augustine .
4. Azaharuddin Mallick (Mohammedan SC)- The Black Panthers have had a fairly good campaign until now, although Joseph has been their top scorer with four goals, Azaharuddin has been more efficient for the team , maintaining possession , creating chances and even finding the net thrice.
5. Kunzang Bhutia (FC Bengaluru United) – Kunzang has been the most important individual for FC Bengaluru United. Their brilliant run over the time would have been a lot tougher without custodian Kunzang who had made some astounding string of saves at much needed times. Kunzang had denied 16 on target shots.
Although these are our top players to look out for, we would look forward even to see some brilliant performances by Bengaluru FC custodian Lara Sharma, who handed Bengaluru their maiden win against Kerala Blasters, India and FC Goa star midfielder Brandon Fernandes and definitely Mohammedan’s Marcus Joseph along with FC Bengaluru United’s Spanish forward Pedro Manzi.
