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Our Correspondent
Kohima, Oct. 13 (EMN): Much to the delight of football fan in the state, Nagaland team lifted the Subroto Cup International Football Tournament 2022 in the category of Under-17 (boys), after a gap of 42 years.
Players from Pilgrim Higher Secondary School, Dimapur, representing Nagaland edged past Government Model Higher Secondary School, Chandigarh, 1-0 in the final match played at Dr. Ambedkar Stadium, New Delhi, on Thursday.
The deciding goal of the match was scored by Nagaland's Setungchim through a header during extra time. Nagaland team walked away with the champions’ trophy, cash award of INR 3,50,000 and citations.
The win for Nagaland (U-17) is a big achievement for the boys in particular and the people of the state in general. Teams representing Nagaland had reached final matches of Subroto Cup several times in the past, but failed to wrest the champions’ trophy for decades.
The last (and also the first) win dates back to 1980 when the Government High school, Dimapur, shared the champions’ title with Ibemcha HSS, Manipur, after the match could not be played due to unavoidable circumstances.
The Pilgrim Higher Secondary School team was led by state football coach Mughato Aye and Akihito Zhimo as the manager.
On their way to the final, Nagaland defeated Kejriwal High School, Bihar 3 – 1, thrashed Fountainhead School, Surat 16–0 and beat Banpother Bengenabari HSS, Assam 2 – 0 in the league matches to top Pool G.
Nagaland defeated St. Anthony’s High School, Meghalaya, in quarters via penalty shootout 5-4. In their semifinal match, they defeated CT Higher Secondary School Manipur, 3 –1 to make it into the final.
Team Nagaland also bagged best goalkeeper award which was won by Shotok Nikhuyi and also adjudged the best school.
Organised by the Subroto Mukherjee Sports Education Society and the Indian Air Force, the tournament started with Under-14 Boys category in which Nagaland team lost to Manipur in the semi-final.
The Subroto Cup International Football Tournament is a prestigious inter-school football tournament held annually in New Delhi with schools from across the country and beyond participating in the event. The 61st edition was held after a gap of two years.
Advisor for Youth Resources & Sports (YR&S), Zale Neikha congratulated the team for winning the prestigious trophy and said the team success represents epitome of hardwork. “The boys showed their quality to be champions, their teamwork and effort have attributed to the success of the trophy,” the YR&S advisor said.
He appreciated the players for bringing laurel to the state and said defeating a tough opponent was not an easy task as it requires a lot of training, high levels of concentration and teamwork to be successful.
While stating that it is a red letter day for Nagaland football to win such a prestigious tournament, he hoped Nagaland can build young players for future and continue to bring laurel to the state.