The King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh which hosted Lionel Messi's Paris Saint-Germain friendly match against Cristiano Ronaldo led Riyadh XI a little over a month ago, has now been announced as the venue for the final round of Santosh Trophy fixtures. The tournament, which is named after Maharaja of Santosh, will see two semi-finals, a third-place match as well as the titular contest all being played at this venue.
The initiative, it is being said, is the first major step after the All India Football Federation (AIFF) announced the Vision 2047. Not too long ago, fresh faces took over the administration of Indian Football and they have decided to take the domestic interstate tournament, football's Ranji Trophy equivalent, to the Saudi Arabia. Punjab, Meghalaya, Services and Karnataka are the four teams that will compete in this final round India's National Football Championship.
Punjab vs Meghalaya in first semifinal
Punjab will up against Meghalaya in the first semifinal of the competition. While Punjab have won the tournament eight times in the past, this is the first instance of the North Eastern state securing a place in the final four.
Former India International and India's coach Harjinder Singh was confident of his team's chances against a relatively inexperienced side but was careful not to take it too lightly.
Services vs Karnataka in the other semifinal
The other semifinal will be played between the Services, who have won the tournament six times, and Karnataka who have four titles to their credit so far. It has been a rathe long wait for Karnataka who last lifted the trophy 53 years ago and would want to claim after getting so close.
Karnataka's head coach Ravi Babu Raju backed the quality in his side to come good so that they can come go on to create history.
Punjab vs Meghalaya, the first semi-final will commence at 5.30 pm IST on Wednesday (March 01), while Services' fixture against Karnataka will kick off at 9 pm IST later on the same day.