ISL 2017/18: Best players of the tournament - Season Awards
Chennaiyin FC may have been crowned ISL champions of the 2017/18 season but the fact remains that several players from various teams made their presence felt with consistently solid performances. We take a look at the footballers who picked up the end of the season awards.
Golden Boot Award - Ferran Corominas
The Spaniard was the season's most lethal player. Ferran Corominas scored a massive 18 goals in 18 games thus winning the Golden Boot Award. Two Bengaluru boys, Miku and Sunil Chhetri finished behind him in 2nd and 3rd position respectively. They had 15 and 14 goals respectively to their names.
Best Pitch of the season - Delhi Dynamos
Delhi Dynamos may have endured a poor season, finishing eighth on the points table, but there is no denying the fact that the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium was a pristine green pitch on which numerous goals were scored, week in week out.
Inigo Calderon - Fittest Player in the league
A 36-year-old Argentine was awarded the fittest player in the ISL this season. It speaks volumes about his passion and love for the game. All through the past three months, Calderon was marauding up and down the right flank for Chennaiyin FC. He was the go-to man for motivation as he pumped his players up every time he felt the energy dipping. A fitting award for a super season.
Golden Glove Award - Subrata Pal
With the second-best defensive record in the league stage, Jamshedpur FC have their veteran goalkeeper to thank. Subrata Pal finished the season with 7 clean sheets in 18 games thus proving that he is still very much in the thick of things. As cliched as it may sound, age is just a number and Pal continues to prove so.
Emerging Player of the ISL - Lalruatthara - Kerala Blasters
In Lalruatthara, Kerala Blasters have a supremely talented 23-year-old defender. He partook in 17 out of Kerala's 18 matches and was one of their best and surely most versatile players on the pitch.
Hero of the league - Sunil Chhetri
All said and done, Indian football's poster boy continues to produce magical performances, one season after another. He scored a splendid diving header in the final which went in vain. There is no doubt that he was the league's most influential player, on and off the pitch.