Orissa, Meghalaya to contest national final of Coca-Cola Cup

Orissa and Meghalaya would contest the final of the Coca-Cola Cup national under-15 football tournament at the Father Agnels School in Vashi tomorrow.
The finalists would be felicitated by senior India cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and national football team's skipper Sunil Chhetri, a media release said today.
Over 41,000 young footballers from 2,610 schools across 86 cities competed in this tournament over the last many months across district, state and zonal levels.
After several rounds of matches, Meghalaya, Orissa, Goa and Karnataka state teams made it to the semi-finals in which Meghalaya and Orissa emerged as winners to qualify for tomorrow's summit clash.

The tournament would also act as a critical stepping stone for these young footballers with 40 players set to be shortlisted by the All India Football Federation's technical committee for inclusion 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.