Shillong, Feb 2: Meghalaya’s campaign in the qualification round of the 73rd Santosh Trophy will begin on 11th February, the All India Football Federation has announced.
Meghalaya have been drawn with Tripura and Mizoram in Group A. Group B contains four teams – Manipur, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland. The top team from each group will progress to the next round.
Like last year, the North East zone matches will be held in Aizawl.
Meghalaya will face Tripura on 11th February and Mizoram on 15th February.
As of today there hasn’t been any intimation from the Meghalaya Football Association about who’s in the state squad. As per the Santosh Trophy rules, the final squad should be made up of 20 players of which five should be U-21s.
In 2018 Meghalaya were drawn with Tripura and Manipur, with the latter progressing from the group (Meghalaya beat Tripura 5-0 but lost to Manipur 3-1).
This year will be another challenging year, with Meghalaya grouped with the hosts. Mizoram won the national tournament in 2014 and were semifinalists in the last two editions of the competition.
The qualification round has been divided into five zones – West, North, East, North East and South.
Following the zonal round will come a second round robin stage with 10 teams divided into two groups. The top two teams from each group will bag their places in the semifinals.
