Indian under-12 team finishes 2nd in Asian Youth Football

Nagaland’s Green wood School under-12 team represented India defeated Team Xi’an AIZI football club of China and won second place in Asian Youth Football Festa 2015 held at Anseong, South Korea.

• A total of 47 teams from 15 countries participated in the event. India was in Group B-2 along with three teams of South Korea and a team from China and Thailand each.
• Thailand won the first place followed by India in the second place by winning three of its four matches.
• National Sports Development Fund of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports provided the financial assistance for participation of the team.
• The school was the winner of the last under-14 Subroto Cup held in 2014.
• The 15 countries whose teams participated in the event were South Korea, China, India, Thailand, East Timor, Mongolia, Palestine, Nepal, Cambodia, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Laos and Tajikistan.

Football in India:

• Football is India’s second most popular sport, next to the game of cricket.
• Traditionally it has enjoyed popularity in the regions such as West Bengal, Goa, Kerala, Odisha, and the entire north-eastern India, especially Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim.
• The 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup is scheduled to take place in India.
• The India national football team is governed by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) since 1948.