Santosh Trophy: Tamil Nadu ready to roar

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Tamil Nadu have produced excellent footballers such as Gunapandian, P. Nagesh and Syed Sabir Pasha over the years.

But none of them has played in the final of a Santosh Trophy. Sabir, to an extent, gets consolation as he is the coach of the current TN team that have made it to the title round.

DC spoke to a few players to know what it meant to them to turn out in the Santosh Trophy final.

A. Reagan: It’s teamwork. We are not chasing individual glory. Winning the final would be the best gift we can give ourselves.

M. Ramesh: Our unity is one of the main reasons that has helped us come this far. The boys have been helping and playing for each other. Our coach Sabir Pasha has done a great job by keeping us grounded.

Shanta Kumar: Eighty per cent of the target is achieved and we are focused on conquering the final front.

Nirmal Kumar: The feeling that we have reached the final hasn’t yet sunk in. Last night I couldn’t sleep properly.

Happiness of making it and the anxiety of playing the final kept me awake. Our final opponent Services are a strong team but we are no less.

Suman Raj: It’s a dream come true to play in the final. Our performance would help Tamil Nadu youngsters to set higher goals.

K. Sathish: Our hard work has been rewarded. Every player knew what his role was and played accordingly. It is no luck that we reached the final.

Naveen Kumar: Even during practice, everyone is putting in their best and that has paid off.