SHILLONG: The Shillong Lajong Football Club Under-20 team will kick off its maiden U-20 I-League Final Round campaign against Mumbai FC on Sunday. The Reds will battle it out at Kalyani in West Bengal against other group qualifiers which include Churchill Brothers and Pune FC.
Team owner Larsing Ming expressed happiness over the performance of the side which qualified from a tough Eastern Zone with fancied teams like Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Prayag United competing.
Lajong had beaten East Bengal and Prayag United to qualify for the Final Round. The Reds had lost the first match against Mohun Bagan.
It may be mentioned that almost all of the Lajong players belong to the 16-17 age group.
Ming informed that the club is creating a project called the ‘Goal 14 team’ which would comprise of boys from the U-20 team along with 3-4 boys from the 18-20 age group who will be made to play in the Shillong Premier League, Bordoloi Trophy, IFA Shield and CK Nayanar trophies with an intent to prepare at least 50 per cent of them for the I-League from 2014 onwards.
“Our aim is that from 2014 onwards we do not want to buy any players from outside the Lajong pool except for foreign players,” Ming stated.
U-20 coach Bobby L Nongbet said that the team has done exceptionally well to reach the Final Round and the learning experience would come in handy for the boys.
Meanwhile, the Lajong management has informed that tickets for the Lajong-Salgaocar I-League match scheduled on Friday would go on sale from Wednesday.
