Chennai: When you miss chances, you concede. On Thursday under the glare of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here, Tamil Nadu learnt this philosophy the hard way.
In the Santosh Trophy semi-final against Goa, the hosts spurned a flurry of goal-scoring opportunities and then threw themselves out of the tournament by conceding a 90th-minute penalty.
Kali Alaudin had no business of pulling back Francis Fernandes, who had already lost possession when the foul was committed, inside the box and referee Pratap Singh rightly pointed to the dreaded spot.
Climax Lawrence kept his cool and slotted it home past Dempo teammate and Tamil Nadu goalkeeper V.P. Sathish Kumar.
Failing to digest this loss, the supporters vented their anger. Bucket seats and empty bottles were thrown on to the pitch, windowpanes at the media centre were broken and the choicest expletives were hurled at referee Singh.
One person was injured after being hit by a stone from the upper tier of the stadium and was admitted to a nearby hospital.
Such was the reaction from the crowd that the men in black and the players had to wait on the pitch for over 25 minutes. As the crowd appeared to be in no mood to relent, the police resorted to lathicharge and dispersed the crowd.
One Raghu Nandy, though, would not complain about the result. For the Bengal coach knew that if it was Tamil Nadu on Sunday, Bengal’s 10-year wait might have been prolonged. After all no one will like to face a well-prepared team, backed by a noisy, partisan crowd.
Goa, on current form, will be much easier opponents for the 29-time champions.
For Tamil Nadu, it was a story of what might have been.
They could have been in the final for the first time since 1972, they could have won the match at least by four goals, their two frontliners — P. Muthu and P.C. Riju — could have got their photos splashed all over town.
Instead, there were drooping shoulders, teary eyes and choked voices. It just slipped out of their hands and they have only themselves to blame.
Riju volleyed over when a gentle push three yards from goal would have changed the electronic scoreboard; Muthu hit straight to Goa ’keeper Felix D’Souza inside the six-yard box and failed again at sniffing distance from goal.
Tamil Nadu seemed to be in mood to give the word profligacy a new meaning. “When you miss chances like we did, how can you expect the team to go through,” Tamil Nadu skipper Kalia Kulothungan, yet to come to terms with the loss, said.
The hosts were all over their rivals throughout the 90-minute skirmish.
On the left, Bangkok, Tamil Nadu’s only northeast connection, was constantly probing the rival defence with quality deliveries. As the Goans were pegged back, the two frontliners — a half-fit Joaquim Abranches and Marcus Mascarenhas — wandered around aimlessly. And D. Ravanan, Alaudin and N. Mohanraj did not complain.
But then came the bloomer from Alaudin and it was all over for Tamil Nadu. A fifty-day preparation camp, building the team with I-League players and playing with great style all came to zilch.
TEAMS
Goa: Felix D’Souza, Rowilson Rodrigues, Covan Lawrence, Mahesh Gawli, Fulgancio Cardozo, Wilton Gomes, Climax Lawrence, Bevan D’Mello, Nicholas Rodrigues, Marcus Mascarenhas, Joaquim Abranches (Francis Fernandes 50)
Tamil Nadu: V.P. Sathish Kumar; Prem Kumar, Kali Alaudin, D. Ravanan, N. Mohanraj, Satish Kumar, K. Kulothingan, F. Jegan, Bangkok (Fredy 77), P Muthu, PC Riju.
Referee: Pratap Singh.
