The 131st Durand cup started on August 16, this year. This year, the North East United FC is being led by Silchar’s Sampow Rongmei. Even though it’s a matter of pride for Silchar along with the state, under this captaincy, his experience was not one of the happiest. They played their first match on August 17 against Odisha FC at Guwahati’s Sarusajai Stadium. The debut match for North East United in this year’s tournament has been a devastating loss. The United lost the match with a huge difference of 6-0 goals on their home ground.
Silchar boy, Sampow has played in the right back position but the Uniteds couldn’t stand at all against the aggressive Odisha FC. In the first half, the Odisha team was already ahead with a difference of 3-0 goals. The second half was equally devastating for the home team. The attacking mode of Odisha continued and they managed to book another three goals in their name. This led to their final score of 6-0 against the United in their first match.
This defeat was unexpected from the North East United in the first match. This defeat was disheartening for the fans. The team has practised the entire last month for the Durand Cup and has also played the Guwahati League before this prestigious tournament. It is worth mentioning here that, other than Sampow, Silchar’s Jianchun Romgmei is also a part of the United’s squad. Even though he didn’t play in the first match, this midfielder is expected to be a part of the upcoming matches in the Durand Cup.
In this year’s Durand Cup, other than Indian Super League’s 11 teams, a total of 20 teams from different states have also taken part in this tournament. Other than Guwahati, this year’s Durand Cup is being played at Imphal and Kolkata as well. This cup has been held by the Durand Football Tournament Society since 1888, with the first tournament being held at Shimla. This is the oldest club football tournament in Asia and the third oldest in the world.
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