Afghanistan’s Istiqlal High School clinches U-14 Subroto Cup football title

Istiqlal High School defeated Government Model High School, Chandigarh, 5-4 in penalty shootout to win the Under-14 final of the 58th Subroto Cup Football Tournament

Afghanistan’s Istiqlal High School defeated Government Model High School, Chandigarh, 5-4 in penalty shootout to win the Under-14 final of the 58th Subroto Cup Football Tournament at the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi.

The victorious Istiqlal High School from Afghanistan after winning the U-14 Subroto Cup. (Subroto Cup)

The match had ended 0-0 in regulation time.

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For the Afghanistan team, Ali, Mortaza, Mahdi, Farid and Baktas were the five scorers in the tiebreaker. For Chandigarh, Pritam, Balraj, Amandeep and L. Sibijit converted from the spot.

Istiqlal High School’s goalkeeper Hasibullah turned out to be their hero as he stopped the last shot.

The final was a well contested affair as both teams tried hard to find the opening goal.

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For the Afghanistan team, their right flank was particularly mobile in the second half. However, the lack of a good finish saw them wasting chances.

However, in the latter stages, both the teams employed defensive technique as match lost its sheen.