Staff Reporter
NAHARALGUN, Dec 14: Excitement is running high for Saturday’s historic Hero Sub-Junior National Football Championship (NFC) final to be played between Arunac-hal Pradesh and Odisha.
This is the first time that Arunachal Pradesh will play a final match in any major football event.
Arunachal reached the final beating Mizoram 2-1 in extra-time in a nerve-wracking semifinal on Thursday.
In the group level, they had beaten Maharashtra 1-0 in the opener, and drubbed Punjab 5-0 and Tamil Nadu 9-1 before going down fighting 0-1 to Odisha in their last match.
With four wins and a draw, Odisha has remained unbeaten in the championship so far.
They entered into the final with a morale-boosting 6-2 win over Jharkhand in the semifinal on Thursday.
With both teams not having much to separate between them, it will be difficult to guess the clear victor. However, Arunachal will have the home advantage.
Head coach of Arunachal, Rocky Ramch-ing, was optimistic with his team, stating that the boys would perform up to their potential and win the match.
He said Thursday’s semifinal win against Mizoram definitely boosted the morale of the team.
“I believe the boys will give their best,” he said.
The match will start at 1:30 pm at RG Stadium here.
