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Meghalaya to face Odisha in sub-junior football final today

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Navi Mumbai: Meghalaya and Odisha will battle it out on Tuesday in the summit clash of the Coca-Cola Cup, a national under-15 sub-junior football tournament, at Father Agnels School, Vashi, here.

The youngsters will be showcasing their talent in front of cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar and India’s national football team captain Sunil Chhetri, a press release said on Monday.

Over 41,000 budding footballers from 2,610 schools across 86 cities competed in this tournament over the last several months across district, zonal and state levels.

After several gruelling rounds, the Meghalaya, Odisha, Goa and Karnataka state teams made it to the semifinals of Tier 1 held here on Sunday.

The semis saw Meghalaya and Odisha emerge as winners, qualifying for the national finals.

The Meghalaya boys defeated Karnataka by a comprehensive margin of 6-0, to go along with their group wins over Uttar Pradesh (10-0) and Kerala (1-0). They also drew against Jharkhand 0-0.

The tournament will act as a stepping stone for the talented youngsters, with 40 players being shortlisted by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) technical committee for inclusiong in the national under-16 squad.

Rob Baan, Director, Technical, of AIFF has praised the initiative and said the national football federation officials were looking forward to pick up the “select pool of talented footballers.”

“The Coca-Cola Cup has offered the young and budding football players of our nation with a platform to demonstrate as well as hone their skills in the sport.

“The final match is the culmination of the hard work and dedication put in by the players over the last several months.

“We are excited to see who wins the ultimate title of ‘The Coca-Cola Cup Champion’ and are looking forward to picking up pool of talented footballers,” said Baan.

The most promising players are to be inducted in the Elite AIFF-FIFA training academies, the release added.

In the final of Tier 2, West Bengal defeated Sports Authority of India (SAI) 2-0 in Kolkata on Thursday. Both teams have qualified for Tier 1. This was the first time that an SAI team was taking part in a AIFF tournament. (PTI)

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