Jaipur: In the final round of the 79th Senior National Santosh Trophy Football Championship, organised by the All India Football Federation, Rajasthan finished third in their Group A with 7 points and advanced to the quarter-finals in Assam on Saturday.In the final league match of the Group A, Rajasthan team drew 2-2 with Nagaland. In the 17th minute of the match, Rajasthan’s Amit scored a goal following a brilliant pass from Altaf to give the team the lead, but Nagaland scored a goal in the 38th minute to make the score 1-1.At half-time, both teams were tied at 1-1. In the 65th minute, Rajasthan received a penalty, which captain Mukesh Choudhary converted to regain the lead (2-1).However in the 80th minute, Nagaland also got a penalty, which made the score 2-2, which remained until the final whistle.Thus, Rajasthan entered the quarter-finals from the group with 7 points from 2 wins, 1 draw, and 2 losses. Rajasthan made history by entering the quarter-finals of the Santosh Trophy after the seventies. Coach Narendra Singh led the Rajasthan team to victory thanks to intensive training given by him for two months due to which the team performed well and entered the final round by winning Group I and now entered the quarter finals by performing brilliantly in the final round in Assam.This is a big achievement for Rajasthan football. Rajasthan will face the second ranked team of Group B on February 2.On this achievement, the association’s president Manvendra Singh Jasol, secretary Dilip Singh Shekhawat, women’s wing chairperson Roshni Tak, treasurer Kailash Khatik, and all the district officials of the association congratulated the team players, manager Sunil Rao, Rajasthan Football Association representative Dinesh Singh, coach Narendra Singh, Lavkesh and physio Kuldeep for the remarkable feat.
