The2009–10 Indian Federation Cup Final was the 32nd final of theIndian Federation Cup, the top knock-out competition inIndia, and was contested between Kolkata giantsEast Bengal andShillong Lajong on 3 January 2010.
East Bengal won the final 3–0 via penalty shootouts after the game ended 0–0 after added extra time, to claim their sixth Federation Cup title.[2]
East Bengal entered the2009–10 Indian Federation Cup automatically as they were already in theI-League. They were placed in Group A along withJCT,Salgaocar andViva Kerala and their matches were played inSatindra Mohan Dev Stadium,Silchar. The tournament got off to mixed start for East Bengal as they drew goalless in their opening fixture against Viva Kerala and then defeated Salgaocar 1–0 in their second match.Yusif Yakubu scored in the 15th minute of the match. In the third match against JCT, East Bengal required a win to qualify and they managed to defeat the Punjab side by 1–0 withBhaichung Bhutia scoring the winner in the 80th minute to take East Bengal into the Semi-finals.[3] In the Semi-final, East Bengal faced their arch-rivalsMohun Bagan at theNehru Stadium inGuwahati, with the memories of 5–3 defeat in theI-League match still fresh, the Red and Gold brigade took their revenge as they defeated Mohun Bagan by 2–0 with goals from Yusif Yakubu andMehtab Hossain to reach the final.José Ramirez Barreto missed a penalty in the first half for Bagan.[4]
Shillong Lajong entered the2009–10 Indian Federation Cup automatically as they were already in theI-League. They were placed in Group D along withAir India,Dempo andPune FC and their matches were played inNehru Stadium inGuwahati. Lajong were the underdogs in the group and began their campaign with a 1–1 draw against Air India. In their second match, they stunned the reigningI-League champions Dempo with a 2–1 win[5] and with Dempo already losing their first match to Pune, Lajong required a draw against Pune to secure their qualification into the Semi-finals. In the last group game, Lajong drew 1-1 and confirmed their spot in the Semis for the very first time.[6] In the Semi-final, Lajong faced favouritesChurchill Brothers but their fairy-tale run continued as they caused another upset with a 1–0 win courtesy of a solitary strike fromSeikhohau Tuboi to reach their maiden Federation Cup final.[7]
