The Kerala team for the Santosh Trophy football final round has been announced. KSEB player Jijo Joseph from Thrissur will lead the experienced and youthful team. Jijo, 29, has played for the Santosh Trophy Kerala team consecutively since 2014. There are 13 newcomers in the 20-member Kerala team. Jijo Joseph, 30, is the team’s most senior player.
19-year-old Mohammad Saheef is the youngest player in the team. The coach is Bino George, who has coached the Gokulam Kerala FC team in the I-League. In addition to Bino, TG Purushothaman will be the assistant coach and Saji Joy will be the goalkeeper’s coach. Ramco Cements is the main sponsor of the Kerala team.
The championship will be held at Malappuram Manjeri and Kottapadi stadiums from the 16th of this month. Kerala is in Group A with strong teams of West Bengal, Meghalaya, Punjab and Rajasthan. Group B includes Gujarat, Karnataka, Odisha, Services and Manipur. The hosts will play their first match against Rajasthan at the Manjeri Payyanad Football Stadium on the 16th at 8 pm.
The final is on May 2. KFA President Tom Jose, Secretary P Anilkumar, Ramco Cement Senior General Manager Ramesh Bharat, Marketing Senior Manager PM Siju, KDFA President P Raghunath, KFA Vice President Abdul Karim and Treasurer M Sivakumar were present at the press conference.
Kerala Team: (by name, district and club)
Goalkeepers: V Mithun (Kannur-Kerala United), S Ajmal (Palakkad-KSEB). Defensive line: G Sanju (Ernakulam-Kerala Police), Soyal Joshi (Ernakulam-Under-21 Golden Threads FC), Bipin Ajayan (Ernakulam-Golden Threads FC), Mohammad Saheef (Under-21 Parapur FC), Ajay Alex (Ernakulam-Golden) Threads FC), PT Mohammad Basit (Under 21 Kerala Blasters). Middle order: Jijo Joseph (Thrissur-Captain, KSEB), Arjun Jayaraj (Malappuram-Kerala United FC), Salman Kalliath (Malappuram-Kerala United FC), P Akhil (Ernakulam-Kerala United FC), M Fazlurrahman (Malappuram-Sat Tirur), NS Shikhil (Malappuram-Under-21 Bangalore FC), PN Noufal (Kozhikode-Basco Othukkangal), Nijo Gilbert (Thiruvananthapuram-Kerala Blasters), K Mohammad Rashid (Wayanad-Gokulam Kerala FC) ). Leading line: M Vignesh (Thiruvananthapuram-KSEB), TK Jasin (Malappuram-Kerala United) and Mohammad Safnad (Wayanad-Under-21 Kerala United FC).
English summary; Santosh Trophy; Kerala team announced
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