Haryana City book tickets to play at Old Trafford

Panaji: Haryana City FC emerged as the national champions of the Road To Old Trafford five-a-side football tournament after they got the better of Gunners FC, Bengaluru, via tiebreaker in the final played in Chennai.

The tournament was held in multiple phases at a pan-India level to unearth India’s best five-a-side football team and saw more than 100 teams from different parts of the country participating.

The final was a tense, closely-fought affair with Haryana City needing the tiebreaker to edge out their rivals from Bengaluru.

The match finished 1-1 in regulation time, but Haryana City kept their cool in the shootout to win 3-2 and book themselves one of the most coveted prizes that any Indian football team can win – a chance to play at the hallowed turf at Old Trafford, home to Manchester United.

Haryana City will now travel to Manchester and play at Old Trafford stadium next month.

“Honestly, it hasn’t sunk in yet,” said Haryana City captain Pranav Sharma. “We were confident of ourselves right from the qualifying round, but to compete against some of the best five-a-side football teams and win the national finals is exciting. We can’t wait to go to Manchester.”

Remus D’Cruz, head marketing, sports and community engagement at Apollo Tyres said Haryana City were deserving winners.

“Their display has been superb right throughout the tournament to grab the trophy and the cherished opportunity to play at Old Trafford, which I’m sure will be a great experience for them,” said Remus.

The tournament had 112 teams competing against each other. The best teams from each of the six cities advanced to the national finals.

The last edition was won by Kalina Rangers from Mumbai, who won the India leg of the tournament and then played, amongst others, against a legends team comprising Manchester United star Dimitar Berbatov and treble winner Wes Brown.
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