panaji dempo sports club doesnt have particularly fond memories of the federation cup despite being indias best side of the 21st century the goan club has made four final appearances since the turn of the century but has held the trophy aloft just once and that too when they were in no mood for celebration the 2004 federation cup triumph was blighted by the onfield death of their brazilian striker cristiano junior in bangalore and since then the tournament has only revived painful memories now they have a chance to turn over a new leaf standing between dempo and you may well say history is bengaluru fc in the final at nehru stadium in fatorda on sunday although the newcomers will be keen to write a history of their own in their debut final appearance i think it is the two best teams in the tournament that have gone through to the final and no one can really argue with that said bengaluru fc coach ashley westwood nobody can really differ dempo have played some eyecatching football in the tournament and have kept eyebrows at elevated altitude since taking over from armando colaco hugely successful at dempo in his 10 year tenure arthur papas has often been frustrated with the lack of progress but the australian now finally has the ingredients and freedom to kickstart a new era at the club it has helped dempos cause that they strengthened themselves with the addition of players from the isl like lenny rodrigues out of the final with a double booking and francis fernandes with romeo fernandes mandar rao desai clifford miranda tolgay ozbey and haroon amiri all carrying forward their excellent isl form its been a winwin situation at the club the players are improving while new players have come in and made an impact the group works together for each other and its not about one player alone the strength of the team is the squad said papas with all due respect to papas and dempo no team exemplifies team strength and unity like bengaluru fc almost entirely made up of rejects from other clubs bengaluru fc stunned indian football by winning the ileague title on debut in their second season they already look hungry and wellequipped for more of course it helps to have indias best player in your ranks but lest it be forgotten coach ashley westwood took everyone by surprise when he plucked him from his centreforward position and handed him a role on the wing