Soumo Ghosh
AIFF Media Team

BHUBANESWAR: After more than a week of gruelling action, the Kalinga Super Cup 2025 has only four remaining contenders. The semi-finals will take place on Wednesday, April 30, with Mohun Bagan SG taking on FC Goa (16:30) and Mumbai City FC locking horns with Jamshedpur FC (20:00) at the Kalinga Stadium.

The matches will be telecast live on Star Sports 3 and streamed on JioHotstar.

Mohun Bagan SG with nothing to lose against 'favourites' Goa

After a record-breaking league campaign, winning the ISL Shield and Cup, and already booking a place in next season's AFC Champions League Two, Mohun Bagan SG travelled to Bhubaneswar with a young squad for what coach Bastab Roy labelled as an "exposure trip". The Mariners left Kerala Blasters FC stunned, beating them 2-1 in the quarter-finals, and are just two wins away from a domestic treble.

FC Goa, who finished second in the ISL, however, will be a tougher ask than the Blasters, according to Roy. The Gaurs were one of the only two sides to beat them during the regular season.

"FC Goa are, without a doubt, a better and a stronger team than Kerala Blasters. So my job is not easy. But my players are focussed and ready.

"It's an exposure trip for the young boys and some seniors as well. It's a semi-final and I've told my boys to enjoy the game," said Roy in the pre-match press conference.

Mohun Bagan certainly did enjoy their outing against the Blasters on Saturday, with Salahudheen Adnan K, being the highlight performer. The 21-year-old bagged an assist and picked up the Kalinga Player of the Match award.

But Roy tried to tone down the buzz, stressing that it's important for the youngsters to keep their focus on the next game and put on consistent performances. He also stated that game-by-game is the way to go in knockout tournaments.

"We can't judge players with one match. Let's not hype the boys too much because they are very young. Let them play.

"We're not thinking about being champions right now. Winning the first match was good for us because we now get one more chance. Obviously, it's a semi-final and if we win, we will get a chance to play the final, and then we'll think of being the champions," Roy added.

FC Goa head coach Manolo Márquez spoke on similar lines. The Gaurs have reached the semi-finals after two victories, a breezy 3-0 defeat of Gokulam Kerala FC, followed by a nerve-wracking 2-1 comeback win over Punjab FC on Saturday. Márquez now stands two wins away from his first silverware with FC Goa.

"Everyone knows that you have to win four games to be the champion. Every game is very difficult. Winning a trophy is very important," the Spaniard said.

FC Goa are billed as favourites for this clash, owing to their full strength, but Márquez emphasised that the number of foreign players is not an indication of a team's strength, citing examples from the Kalinga Super Cup so far.

"Mohun Bagan are here with half the squad of the main team, and the other half were champions of the Reliance Foundation Development League two weeks ago. I think that the game will be very difficult because they have nothing to lose. This is the reality. They have already won two trophies. They already have the slot for the Asian competition.

“During this (2025) Kalinga Super Cup, Mumbai (City) played with only one or two foreigners, and they beat Chennaiyin, who played with all six. We were very close to losing to Punjab, who played with only two foreigners. Obviously, the foreigners are important. But the Indian players of Mohun Bagan are very good. People think that the team with more foreigners are the favourites, but that doesn't matter," said Márquez.

Mumbai City and Jamshedpur hope to at last cross the semi-final hurdle

Both Mumbai City FC and Jamshedpur FC bowed out of the Kalinga Super Cup at the semi-final stage last year, but this season presents them a chance to make the final for the first time ever. With both sides yet to concede a goal in the tournament so far, it will be fascinating to see who finally unlock the other's defence. And if neither can, there are always penalties to settle the scores.

Head coach Petr Kratky has the opportunity to take the Islanders to an Asian competition for the third time in the club's history, and the anticipation is high in the dressing room.

"We're very excited and very happy to get to the semi-finals. We'll go game by game and get ready for the next final, which is tomorrow.

"Our expectations are always the highest; we want to win every game, we want to finish as high as we can, so we are here to win and bring the trophy for the club and the fans," said Kratky.

The 5-0 loss to Bengaluru FC in the ISL play-offs left a sour taste in the mouths of the Islanders, and the mission is now to erase that memory and create new ones in Bhubaneswar. Mumbai City have registered two clean sheet victories so far, beating Chennaiyin FC (4-0) and Inter Kashi (1-0).

"I was very happy after the first game in a tournament against Chennaiyin, a very good reaction to the loss against Bengaluru in the ISL play-offs. The group worked very hard after the game on the training pitch.

"I think it will be a very good game against Jamshedpur. They are a very strong team and have proved it with the way they finished the ISL season. They're also doing well in the Super Cup. We will try to avoid allowing them to create chances. And then again, if the defence is good and we execute what we need to execute, I'll feel very confident in the squad," said the Czech.

Jamshedpur FC find themselves in the Kalinga Super Cup semi-final for the third time in a row. They lost 0-2 on both previous occasions to East Bengal (2024) and Bengaluru FC (2023). While the Men of Steel will count on being third time lucky, head coach Khalid Jamil highlighted that they consider every tournament a new challenge.

We never think like this (about the previous tournaments). If this is a new challenge in your game, you must think positively and try to get good positive results.

We're playing the semi-final. It is an important game. We are playing against a good team and must work hard to get a positive result," said Jamil.

The Kalinga Super Cup title will also mean a first-ever appearance in Asia for Jamshedpur FC, who were only a step away from the AFC Champions League in 2023 when they lost the qualifying play-off to none other than Wednesday's opponents, Mumbai City.

This time, Jamshedpur will carry a psychological edge into the game, having beaten the Islanders twice in the ISL this season. But Jamil reiterated that this will be a "totally different match" in a separate competition.

"Mumbai City have played well in their two games against Chennaiyin and Inter Kashi. They have quality players who play good attacking football," Jamil said.

The Indian also commended his players for recovering from a mid-season slump and finishing the campaign strong, albeit their ISL journey ended in a narrow defeat to Mohun Bagan SG in the semi-finals.

"There were some bad results for us, especially in the middle of the season. But everybody rectified their mistakes. We have mature players. They know what to do in tough times. And I give all the credit to the boys. They work very hard. They play as a team."