BANGALORE, Dec 4 (UNI): When Dempo Sports Club take on the mighty Mohun Bagan in the 26th Federation Cup football Final on Sunday, they will be keen to avenge the defeat they suffered in the 2001 final at Chennai.
Though not in the best of its form Dempo would really go all out for a third time in the prestigious event to emerge the Champion Club of India which eluded them twice before.
Prior to the loss against Mohun Bagan, they were conquered by East Bengal in the 1996 edition at Kolkata.
Judging by the contrasting styles of play, a royal battle is in store on the morrow with the Kolkata team making it to the final for the 15th time having been runner up thrice, including the inaugural edition in Ernakulam in 1977.
Confident looking Mohun Bagan Coach Subrata Bhattacharya said that the team would go all out to carve out a beautiful dozen titles.
"Despite missing six or seven important players, including strikers Abay Kumar, Dharmjit Singh, boys have cleared hurdles by winning all the matches and now we aim to go all out to win the title and create a record of winning for the 12th time".
"Of course, the road is not so easy to reach as twice beaten in the finals, Dempo will be more hungry and they will put up more pressure.
However, I am confident of my boys put up good fight", he added.
Both the teams have good imported players who have performed well in the Championship, Dempo especially should thank its Brazilian forward Cristiano Delima Junior and the mercurial Nigerian Ronty Martins who has the highest number of five goals in the championship to his credit.
His tally included the hattrick against Tollygunge Agragami yesterday.
The team also has some problems with its custodian Satish Kumar who was not fully fit in yesterday's match and was constantly seeking medical aid.
Mohun Bagan's stars W Tomba Singh and Brazilian striker Roberto Mendes Silva were also among goals in the tournament and he would be an asset to the team in the final.
The Goan team had to really sweat it out against Tollygunge which came up with a sterling display in the semifinals keen for an elusive berth in the final.
Mohun Bagan too was stretched by a spirited Sporting Club de Goa which was a surprise pack of the Championship knocking two other Kolkata giants, last year's runner up Mohammadan Sporting and East Bengal.
However their luck ranout against the third of the triumverates from the east coast Mohun Bagan.
Mohun Bagan started the title hunt with a relatively easy 1-0 victory against Indian Bank, they beat JCT Mills, Phagwara convincingly 4-1 and in the semifinal outlasted Sporting Club De, Goa 1-0.
Dempo pitted in the top half registered a 3-1 victory against Ever Ready, Kolkata, beat Churchill Brothers 1-0 before dashing the hopes of Tollygunge 4-3.
The matches, beginning at 1530 hrs will be telecast live on DD-sports channel.