The final rounds of the 77th National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy 2023-24 will begin with a match between Meghalaya and Services here on Wednesday. (More Cricket Team)
A total of 12 teams will compete in the final rounds of the Santosh Trophy, which is being held in Arunachal Pradesh for the first time.
While hosts Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Goa, Assam, Services and Kerala are clubbed in Group A, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Delhi, Manipur, Mizoram and Railways are placed in Group B.
The tournament will take place in Yupia, Itanagar from February 21 till March 9.
The final four stage of the nation's premier state tournament last year was held in Saudi Arabia where Karnataka won the title after 54 years.
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A total of 37 matches will be played due to the expansion of the knockout stage. The top four teams from each group will progress to the quarter-finals.
The ongoing I-League 2 season has taken a break to allow players to represent their states in the Santosh Trophy.
In other matches on the opening day, Assam will take on Kerala while Goa will play hosts Arunachal Pradesh.
"The importance of the Santosh Trophy cannot be stressed enough as it gives young players the chance to shine. Clubs can identify and unearth talent. It's great to see the tournament spread to new places, and I can't wait to come to Arunachal Pradesh and witness the excitement," AIFF Technical Committee chairperson IM Vijayan said.
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While head coach Khlain Pyrkhat Syiemlieh will miss a few key names who are part of Shillong Lajong squad in the I-League, Meghalaya still have a bunch of players from last year's team like Sheen Stevenson Sohktung, Dawanchwa Carlos Challam, Damonlang Pathaw and Brolington Warlarpih.
The group also contains strong sides like Goa and Kerala. Goa have one of the most experienced squads in the final round, with most of their players coming from I-League 2 sides Sporting Clube de Goa and Dempo SC.
Services and Assam will also hope to make it to the knockouts.
Karnataka, like Meghalaya, also have lost some important names from last year like Robin Yadav, Bekey Oram and M Sunil Kumar.
Maharashtra, who led the goal-scoring charts in the group stage with a whopping 24 goals in five matches, are one of the favourites in Group B.
Manipur have been another free-scoring side, netting 21 goals in the first round.
Delhi, on the other hand, are a side that made it into the final round on the basis of a rock-solid defence, eking out three 1-0 wins. The team from the national capital won their only Santosh Trophy title in 1945.
Mizoram and Railways, both of whom qualified as the best runners-up sides, round up Group B.
