Orissa and Meghalaya will come face-to-face in the final of the Coca-Cola Cup national Under-15 football tournament at the Father Agnels School in Mumbai on Tuesday.
The finalists would be felicitated by Sachin Tendulkar and national football team’s skipper Sunil Chhetri.
Over 41,000 young footballers from 2,610 schools across 86 cities competed in this tournament over the last few 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 Tuesday’s summit clash.
The tournament would act as a 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.
AIFF technical director Rob Baan 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,” said Baan.
The most promising players will be inducted in the elite AIFF-Fifa training academies.