Punjab win football tourney with substitute players
Aakanksha N Bhardwaj
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, July 20
Punjab boys defeated Karnataka 5-3 in a tie-breaker to win the Oorja 2017 Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) Under-19 football tournament. The final of tournament was played in Delhi yesterday.
The win is being considered as of great importance as it was for the first time that a national-level football tournament was held on the call of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The coach and players of the winning team are emotional as well as elated over the win as they will also be recruited in the Central armed forces.
The team was awarded Rs 5 lakh by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
Suraj Bhan Handa, Punjab coach, said the win in the final was not easy for the boys as five players were shown red cards in the semifinal. They were abstained from playing the final against Karnataka, he added.
While talking to The Tribune over phone, Handa said it was the happiest moment and great satisfaction for him.
“This is the best gift that could have been given by my team to me. What else a coach will want from his team,” said the coach.
Captain Balbir Singh, 18, said the win was actually satisfying because playing without five good players was not easy.
“When our best five players were given red cards in the semifinals, I was little apprehensive but despite the problems, our team has lifted the trophy. The hard work has finally paid off,” said the captain.
The team was practising at the BSF headquarters in Jalandhar.
A BSF official said the tournament had made football popular among the youngsters and it would definitely give a boost to the game.
