Sliding across the field with breathtaking footwork, Delhi-NCR’s biggest neighbourhood football tournament, Ambience Group presents Hindustan Times Great Indian Football Action (GIFA) kicked off with its pre-qualifiers. Here, 125 teams battled it out on the field during the course of the weekend.
The pre-qualifying matches saw some nail-biting football action where the teams competed for their spot in the next round of tournament matches. More than 60 matches saw young footballers showcase impeccable skills on the ground.
“It’s an amazing feeling to win this match. It was very competitive, and the match concluded with penalty shoot-out. It was a neck and neck competition. I feel there is definitely room for improvement, and the players need to focus on improving their skills on the field. Our attacking strategy definitely worked for us and we’re going to follow the same for future matches in the tournament,” says Pranav Arora, captain, Nex Era Jr Champs, on their match against Delhi Soccer School.
Along with the kids, parents and coaches, too, expressed their excitement on field as they cheered on and gave valuable inputs to the footballers during their matches. While the winning teams were ecstatic, the teams that couldn’t grab the win didn’t lose hope and planned to try their best to get back in the tournament through the wild card entry.
Nitin Palli, father of Sahnan Palli from Manthan United, says, “The main point of the tournament is that everyone should come and play; winning and losing are just a part of the game. Both teams played very well and it was an extremely close match, which eventually came down to penalties. It was just pure luck after that. The team really enjoyed playing, and we plan to gather as many votes as possible for the wild card entry, so that we can grab the trophy this year.”
{{/usCountry}}Nitin Palli, father of Sahnan Palli from Manthan United, says, “The main point of the tournament is that everyone should come and play; winning and losing are just a part of the game. Both teams played very well and it was an extremely close match, which eventually came down to penalties. It was just pure luck after that. The team really enjoyed playing, and we plan to gather as many votes as possible for the wild card entry, so that we can grab the trophy this year.”
{{/usCountry}}The next round of pre-qualifiers will be held on September 7 and 8 at CWG Village Sports Complex in Delhi and Ambience Public School, Sector 43, Gurugram.
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