 Kalinga Stadium hosted the match | |||||||
| Event | 2024 Super Cup | ||||||
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| After Extra Time | |||||||
| Date | 28 January 2024 | ||||||
| Venue | Kalinga Stadium,Bhubaneswar | ||||||
| Player of the Match | Saúl Crespo (East Bengal)[1] | ||||||
| Referee | Venkatesh R. | ||||||
| Attendance | 10,121 | ||||||
| Weather | Warm and humid | ||||||
←2023 | |||||||
The2024 Super Cup final was the final match of the2024 Super Cup, the fourth edition of theSuper Cup. It was played atKalinga Stadium inBhubaneswar on 28 January 2024 betweenEast Bengal andOdisha.
East Bengal won the match 3–2 for their ninth national cup title and the first major title in 12 years.[2]
The Super Cup is a new annual Indianknock-outfootball competition that is open to all twelve teams in theIndian Super League and top four teams from theI-League and is run by theAll India Football Federation.
The Indian Super League teams automatically qualified for the competition. The top three teams of the I-League qualified automatically while the fourth spot was decided via a play-off match betweenInter Kashi andRajasthan United.
Before the 2024 Indian Super Cup, East Bengal had reached the final of theFederation Cup andSuper Cup, India's top domestic cup competitions, 17 times and won the tournament eight times. East Bengal last reached the final in2018 but came runner-up toBengaluru. East Bengal was grouped in Group A, alongsideIndian Super League sides –Mohun Bagan,Hyderabad and anI-League sideSreenidhi Deccan.[3] East Bengal began their Super Cup campaign on 9 January 2024 and faced Hyderabad in the opening fixture of the tournament and managed a 3–2 victory withCleiton Silva scoring a brace andSaúl Crespo scoring the third.[4] On 14 January, East Bengal faced Sreenidhi Deccan and won 2–1 with goals fromHijazi Maher andJavier Siverio.[5] On 19 January, East Bengal faced their arch-rivals Mohun Bagan in theKolkata Derby fixture in a virtual quarter-final tie that would decide the group champions and who would progress into the semi-finals and East Bengal won 3–1 with captain Cleiton Silva scoring a brace whileNandhakumar Sekar scoring the other, as East Bengal won all three matches in the group to qualify for the semi-final.[6] On 24 January, East Bengal faced Group B winnersJamshedpur in the semi-finals and won 2–0 with goals from Hijazi Maher and Javier Siverio as they entered the final for the second time, after 2018.[7]
Odisha started the campaign as the defending champions of theSuper Cup having won it the previous year in2023. They were grouped in Group D, alongsideIndian Super League sides –Goa,Bengaluru andI-League sideInter Kashi. Odisha started their campaign on 12 January 2024 against Indian Super League side Bengaluru and won 1–1 courtesy of a solitary strike fromAhmed Jahouh.[8] On 17 January, Odisha faced Inter Kashi and won 3–0 with goals fromLalthathanga Khawlhring,Diego Mauricio, andIsak Vanlalruatfela.[9] On 22 January, Odisha faced Goa in the last match of the group stage and won 3–2 with goals from Ahmed Jahou andMourtada Fall scoring a brace.[10] In the semi-final, Odisha facedMumbai City on 25 January and won 1–1 courtesy of a penalty goal by Diego Mauricio as Odisha entered their second consecutive final in the Super Cup.[11]
On 18 December 2023, it was announced by theAIFF that theKalinga Stadium inBhubaneswar,Odisha would host the entire Super Cup.[12]
This would be the third time that Kalinga Stadium would be hosting the Super Cup after 2018 and 2019.[12]
Coming into this match, both sides looked at it as a chance to qualify for the2024–25 AFC Champions League Two preliminary stage.Odisha were the defending champions of the tournament, this time playing at their home groundKalinga Stadium, hoping to defend the title. Their coachSergio Lobera had already won the trophy in2019 withGoa. He stated before the match, "We have a big game in front of us. We have the responsibility to keep the trophy here. We are excited about this opportunity and the most important thing is to enjoy this final. It's a big game for everyone - the players, coaches, staff and supporters,".[13]
East Bengal were looking to break their twelve-year wait for a major domestic trophy having last won the2012 Federation Cup atSiliguri defeatingDempo in the final. East Bengal had already reached the2023 Durand Cup final in the season and finished runner-up. CoachCarles Cuadrat said before the match, "We are feeling very good. We have been fighting for results for a long time. It's very important for us to be in another final. We couldn't win the first one (Durand Cup), so we'll try our best to get the result in this one,".[13]
The defending championsOdisha started at a frantic pace at their home groundKalinga Stadium withDiego Mauricio coming close twice to take the lead and Odisha eventually scored the first goal of the match in the thirty-ninth minute when Diego Mauricio pounced on a loose ball inside the box to finish it and make it 1–0 before half time. East Bengal made two changes as they came out in the second half withNaorem Mahesh Singh andLalchungnunga coming on forJavier Siverio andMandar Rao Dessai respectively and they made an instant impact as Mahesh got passed two Odisha players to play a perfect through ball forNandhakumar Sekar as the later dribbled past the Odisha goalkeeper to equalize the game in the fifty-first minute. Just ten minutes later, East Bengal was awarded a penalty whenMourtada Fall trippedBorja Herrera inside the box andSaúl Crespo made it 2–1 from the spot. Just seven minutes later, Odisha found themselves a man down as Mourtada Fall received a second yellow for an elbow on Borja Herrera. East Bengal had a few more chances to finish the game but Odisha earned themselves a penalty at the very last second of the match in the injury time andAhmed Jahouh equalized for Odisha to take the game into extra time. In the first half of the extra time,Souvik Chakrabarti came close to getting the lead back for East Bengal as his close effort struck the bar but minutes later Souvik received his second yellow for time wasting and both teams went down to ten men. In the hundred-eleventh minute, East Bengal scored the winner as captain Cleiton Silva pounced onNarender Gahlot to snatch the ball inside the box and finish it to make it 3–2 as East Bengal managed to hold onto the lead and become the champions of the2024 Indian Super Cup.[14]
| East Bengal | 3–2 (a.e.t.) | Odisha |
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| Report Report |
         East Bengal |    Odisha |
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Hero of the Match: Assistant referees: | Match rules
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East Bengal captainCleiton Silva ended the tournament as the highest goalscorer of the campaign while defenderHijazi Maher was awarded the 'Best Defender of the Tournament' award. Odisha goalkeeperLalthuammawia Ralte was awarded the 'Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament',Ahmed Jahouh as the 'Best Midfielder of the Tournament', whileIsak Vanlalruatfela was awarded as the 'Player of the Tournament'.[14]
The champion team was welcomed by the ever longing East Bengal fans at theNetaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, Kolkata by an estimated 5,000+ crowd with pyros, smokes, and red and gold colors.[16][17] The team was escorted from the airport to the club premises where thousands more joined in to celebrate the triumph.[18]
East Bengal also earned a spot in the2024–25 AFC Champions League Two Preliminary stage and thus returned to the continental stage after a gap of nine years since their last participation in the2015 AFC Cup.[19]
