Classic FA pip East Bengal, qualify for final round
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, December 31 2022:
Imphal-based Classic Football Academy (CFA) beat East Bengal FC 1-0 to emerge as the Group D winners and qualify for the final round of the Hero U-17 Youth Cup 2022-23.CFA were unbeaten through their group stage campaign with three wins and a draw for their 10 points.
East Bengal FC finished behind with seven points, followed by Shillong Lajong FC (6 pts), Jamshedpur FC (3) and Gauhati Town Club (1) in the Group D standings.
Khullakpam Zahir Khan was the hero for the Classic squad in the last match of Group D as his goal in the final seconds of stoppage time sealed the victory that propelled CFA to the top of the group table at the expense of East Bengal FC.
With the result, Classic Football Academy made it to the final round alongside Gar-hwal FC (Group A winners), Minerva Academy FC (Group B winners), Sreedi Deccan FC (Group E winners), Punjab State FA U-17 Team (Group F winners) and Rajasthan United FC (Group G winners) .
League matches of Group C, Group H, Group I & Group J are yet to complete.
49 teams from 29 state/ union territories split into 10 groups play across 10 locations in the country in a single-leg round-robin format in the group stage.
The 10 group winners and six best second-placed teams will qualify for the final round (knock-out round or round of 16 stage).
While the group st age takes place through January 5 (2023), the final round will be played from January 20 to January 31 .