“Who will be the first champion?”- The biggest question that took over Indian sports over the last few days finally got the answer. And it’s Athletico De Kolkata. The much coveted trophy has gone to the home of Indian football. And the organizers could not have thought of a more befitting start to the tournament.
The final started amongst great noise as fans thronged to the stadium to witness the final of the Indian Super League. The owners of the eight different teams were also present there. Amidst such an electrifying 
ambience the match started between Kerala Blasters and Athletico De Kolkata. However the match never lived up to the expectations for it turned to be a tactical battle between the two coaches. Neither of the teams were ready to give an inch to the opposition as they adopted a safety first policy. It turned to be a match where the old horses were found jabbing at each other.
In the second half Kerala Blasters finally started to make the move ahead into the defense of Kolkata. But Kolkata’s defense stood firm against any Kerala attack. Even when the defense failed, Edel Bete made sure that he stood between Kerala forwards and the goalline with some unbelievable saves. The best came with about 15 minutes to go for the final whistle when he denied Michael Chopra a clear goal scoring opportunity with a one-handed save from hand-shaking distance. It was a golden opportunity squandered away by Chopra who otherwise had a decent outing. Ian Hume the captain of Kerala Blasters also had a great match as he kept the likes of Arnab Mondal, Josemi very busy at the back. Kolkata also got few opportunities and David James made some excellent saves to keep Kerala in the match.
The way the match was going everyone was quite sure that the teams will have to fight out for yet another 30 minutes to find the winner. Even the possibility of a penalty shoot-out could not be blown away. But there was still a twist left in the tale. 3 minutes into the added time Kolkata got a corner kick. Podany took an excellent corner from the left. Mohammad Rafique, who came in as a substitute in the second half, was lurking in the near post. He jumped up to a perfect height and met the corner delivered in. few seconds of silence and then there was uproar. The ball had found the back of the net. It’s Athletico De Kolkata 1, Kerala Blasters 0. Mohammad Rafique had done it. He had broken the deadlock with almost the last touch of the Indian Super League. India finally got its champion.
It was a perfect end to a tournament that will go down in history of Indian football as one of the most priced one. Whether it was a success or a failure let’s leave it to the critics. What it did was more important. It had brought back the craze of football among the football lovers in India. Leaving behind all the pros and cons, only one thing can be uttered- “Come On India! Let’s Football”
Tags: Athletico De Kolkata Indian Super League ISL Kerala Blasters
