Mohammedan Sporting will have their task cut out when they take on FC Goa in the Durand Cup final at the Salt Lake Stadium on Sunday evening.

FC Goa, who came to this tournament with a full-strength squad, are now without five of their regular players but have enough ammunition to become the first ISL team to win the Durand Cup. While Brandon Fernandes, Glan Martins, Seriton Fernandes and Dheeraj Singh are busy with the national team in Maldives, key player Jorge Oritz suffered an ankle injury during the Group B match against Sudeva FC on September 13.

“We are motivated heading into the game. We know we are in pre-season. But when you are in a final and have the chance of winning a trophy, you only think about that. Right now, we want the trophy,” FC Goa’s Edu Bedia said on Saturday.

“We have put in some really hard work here in Calcutta for the past one month. It’s amazing to participate in the final. It’s a prestigious tournament. And we go into the game to win the trophy,” Spanish head coach Juan Ferrando said.

“A win in pre-season is going to make us feel a lot more positive when we head back to Goa.”

Mohammedan Sporting’s Marcus Joseph. Md. Sp.

Mohammedan Sporting, the first Indian team to win the Durand in 1940, do not have much to write home about in Asia’s oldest football tournament. After 1940, they had to wait for 73 years to win again — by that time Durand Cup had lost its sheen — and Sunday’s final gives them a chance to bring the smiles back on their fans’ faces. To talk about fans, 34,000 spectators are expected to turn up at the stadium and needless to say, all of them will root for the black and white brigade.

“Tomorrow (Sunday) is a big game, we will play against one of the best teams in India. I hope for the supporters, it will be a very nice evening. We respect FC Goa but we are not afraid because we know how strong we are. We had a hard route to the final but now that we are in the final, we have only one target — to have the final laugh.”

There is a contest within the contest as well, with Marcus Joseph (Mohammedan Sporting) and Devendra Murgaokar (FC Goa), both of whom have scored five goals each in the tournament, gunning for the highest scorer’s prize.

Kick-off: 6pm