PANJIM/ ITANAGAR: It is no less than the dream of winning the World cup for many Goans. The Santosh Trophy, a tournament of guts and glory is laced with memorable tales of success and achievement and above all honour.

It is the Santosh trophy and ‘santosh’ means ‘satisfaction’.

It has been seven years since they last made it to the finals. Goa is now back in the finals and will play services today (Saturday) Getting their hands ion this silverware is no less an honour for Goans that a world cup victory. This will the biggest sense of ‘santosh’(satisfaction) for Goans

After all it has been 15 years since Goans have received the Santosh Trophy home, a tournament that started way back in 1941. As former Indian captain and Santosh trophy winner Brahmanand Sankhwalkar said, “When I see the yellow of Goa I get inspired to play”. This is trhe spirit and affection for the game and this tournament.

After losing to Bengal in 2017, Goa will go all out to give their best against Services in the final to clinch the 77th National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy for the sixth time, at the Golden Jubilee Stadium, Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, on Saturday, at 7 pm.

Goa and Services are no strangers to the final of a competition such as the Santosh Trophy. The former will make their 14th appearance in a Santosh Trophy final, while latter will make their 12th.

While they have already met once earlier in Group A (Goa won 2-1), this will be the first time that the two sides will play each other in the final. Overall, the two sides have met 11 times in the Santosh Trophy, with Goa holding the edge, having won five matches, while Services have been victorious thrice; three of these matches have ended in draws.

Goa have been on an amazing run so far in the Santosh Trophy – they have not tasted defeat in 11 outings, and will be looking to make 13 their lucky number to win their sixth title.

Goa head coach Charles Dias said, “It’s been a long time since we made the final of the Santosh Trophy (the last time they did so was back in 2017 when they lost 0-1 to Bengal). Now that we are finally here, winning it is all that’s on our mind. That will do a lot for football in Goa.”

“Services are a good team, and we need to be at our best against them. But we are still unbeaten, and our boys don’t like to lose matches. Of course, winning and losing are all a part of the game, but let’s hope we are not going to lose in the final,” he said.

Goa captain Mohamed Ali said, “All the boys are extremely focused on the match. We do everything that we are told in terms of strategies, and we’ve played amazing so far. We will do everything we can to win the trophy.”

Not fazed by the earlier defeat, Services head coach Mileswamy Govindaraju Ramachandran believes that six-time Santosh Trophy champions are ready for the game.

“Mentally and physically, we are in a good place, we are ready for the final. This is one of the biggest matches in the careers of these players, so we will hope for the best result. Our boys have done well to come back after the earlier defeat, and I think we are in a better place to face them now,” said Ramachandran.

“Our group game against Goa did not go in our favour, but we learned a lot from that. Because of that, we have now been able to turn our fortunes and reach the final. They are definitely not a small team, and have some quality players in their ranks. We have to play well from the start,” he said.

Services captain P Christopher Kamei said, “The crowd here in Arunachal have been amazing, and we have really enjoyed playing here in front of them. We are excited for the final.”

Those who made it possible