Zinc Football Academy qualify for U-17 Youth Cup RO16 in style

Unbeaten run in the group of death sees the Udaipur-based team through to the next round of the national tournament.

Zinc Football Academy emerged as the dominant team against some of the best Indian youth teams in the opening league stage of the Hero Under-17 Youth Cup in Goa to win their group in comprehensive fashion with an unblemished record across four games. In the process, the Udaipur-based team qualified for Round of 16 finding the back of the net 12 times in 4 games while remarkably keeping a cleansheet during the entire opening round. Zinc Football Academy was considered underdogs going into the national tournament with heavyweights Bengaluru FC, FC Goa, Churchill Brothers FC and ARA FC pooled alongside them in Group J with only the winner going through to the next round.

Zinc Football Academy –a CSR intervention of Vedanta-Hindustan Zinc, put in flawless performances to defeat Bengaluru FC 2-0, Churchill Brothers FC 3-0, ARA FC 3-0 and FC Goa 4-0 in the four matches held at the Benaulim Football Ground, Goa.

Striker Subhash Damor was the top scorer for the team with five goals including a hattrick against FC Goa. Akshat Mehra chipped in with three goals while Ashish Mayla scored two goals.

The round of 16 matches of the coveted tournament will commence later in January, to be duly notified by All India Football Federation (AIFF).