BHUBANESWAR
Three teams stood a chance to qualify from Group A after Kerala and Punjab won their respective matches in the Santosh Trophy national football championship on Friday.
The day began with as many as five teams in the group still with a chance to qualify for the semifinals with Goa being the only ones eliminated. By the time it ended, the number had been whittled down to two, Maharashtra and hosts Odisha were also eliminated from contention. Kerala’s nervy victory over Odisha, Punjab’s demolition of Goa and Karnataka’s scrappy draw against Maharashtra means a Mexican standoff will now ensue.
In another abysmal display, Norberto Gonsalves-coached Goa were bounced out 3-1 by Punjab. Punjab found the net through Nickson Castanha's own goal in the 20th minute while Rohit Sheikh scored in the 74th and 80th minutes. Goa scored through Clencio Pinto in the 88th minute.
This was Goa's fourth defeat in the final round qualifiers and they languish at the bottom of the six-team Group A without any points and an embarrassing goal difference of -8. Punjab, on the other hand, are top of the group with 10 points from three wins and one draw.
Meanwhile, Karnataka and Maharashtra played out a scrappy draw in a six-goal thriller while Kerala beat Odisha 1-0 with Nijo Gilbert scoring from the spot in the 16th minute. A leaky defence has been the bane of the defending champions Kerala in this edition, and they had conceded as many as they had scored (7), going into the crucial game against the hosts.
