Chandy lauds Kerala Blasters for 'wonderful performance'

Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Oommen Chandy Saturday congratulated the Kerala Blasters team for putting up a "wonderful performance" to finish as runners-up in the first Indian Super League (ISL) tournament.

Atletico De Kolkata substitute Mohammad Rafique headed in an injury time goal as the Kolkata team clinched the inaugural ISL crown with a 1-0 win over Kerala Blasters at the D.Y. Patil stadium in Mumbai.

"The presence of cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar as the co-owner of the Kerala team was a great blessing and the wonderful performance of his team has really provided a great impetus to football in the state," said Chandy.

The chief minister had announced the name of the football team in May in the presence of Tendulkar.

Kerala state secretary of the Communist Party of India Paniyan Ravindran, a keen football enthusiast himself, said Kerala Blasters was the better team in the final, but they were "extremely unlucky".

"The Kolkata team's goalkeeper should be credited because he put up a good show and foiled few certain goals. Overall, football trumped and this tournament has made a very good beginning," said Ravindran, a former Lok Sabha member who has written many books on football.