Karnataka and Delhi to battle it out in the final of inaugural U-20 Men's NFC

Narainpur, May 21 (IANS) The Swami Vivekananda U-20 Men’s National Football Championship 2024 is at its business end as Delhi and Karnataka take the field in the final at the Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama Ground on Wednesday.

After 54 matches that spanned over a month the two finalists are undefeated so far despite both Karnataka and Delhi have employed two different approaches in the competition.

Karnataka have the most miserly defense in the tournament so far. They have conceded just a solitary goal from their five matches, having netted 20 goals.

The only goal they have conceded in this tournament was in their first match against Jharkhand (3-1), while their biggest victory so far was against Ladakh (11-0).

While their goalkeeper Sam George has managed to keep four clean sheets from five appearances, Saikhom Borish Singh has been carrying them through at the other end of the pitch, with six goals to his name. The Karnataka forward is just one behind Mizoram’s Lalthankima in the top scorer’s charts.

At the other end of the spectrum are the side from the capital, who have shown the intent to play an expansive game, looking to score multiple goals against their opponents. They have netted 22 goals from five matches thus far, their biggest victory coming against Pondicherry (7-0) in the group stage.

Delhi have, however, shown a lot of grit and determination to get the required results; having netted six times in the second half of their last three matches. Ramesh Chhetri and Akshay Raj Singh (four each), and Rituraj Mohan (three) have been the primary goal scorers for them.

The Swami Vivekananda U-20 Men’s NFC final between Karnataka and Delhi will kick off at 3.30 pm IST, and will be streamed live on the Indian Football YouTube channel.