Home side Shillong Lajong FC will be adding to the festival mood in the city, taking on Nepal’s Tribhuvan Army FC in the Group F opener at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in the Meghalaya capital. Shillong is all set for the grand opening of the 133rd Durand Cup as the capital city of Meghalaya makes its debut as hosts of Asia’s oldest football tournament.

The second match of the day will see Downtown Heroes FC from Srinagar face Indian Air Force FT in Group A at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata.

After an elaborately planned and what promises to be a dazzling opening ceremony combined with a musical festival, I-League side Shillong Lajong will look to open their Group F campaign with a win against the experienced Tribhuvan Army.

With the group also including ISL side Hyderabad FC and 2021 Durand Cup winner, FC Goa, it will be challenging for all teams. In the last edition of the tournament, they finished third in Group D with three points winning against Downtown Heroes FC and losing the other two matches against FC Goa and NorthEast United FC.

Speaking ahead of the game, the Head Coach of Shillong Lajong, Jose Hevia said, “The expectations for the tournament are always high and we are in a positive mood. Although the number of practice sessions have been few before the first match, the commitment, intensity, and willingness to improve continuously is always high with all our players. We do not have much information about the opposition but the team will approach all matches with the biggest intensity and commitment.”

Tribhuvan Army, who made their debut in the 132nd Durand Cup, will look to give a better account of themselves with some inspired performances. They could only manage a single point from Group E with a draw against Delhi FC and losing the other two matches against Chennaiyin FC and Hyderabad FC.

Expressing his thoughts about the game, Tribhuvan Army FC Head Coach Meghraj KC said, “We could not perform well last year in our debut in the tournament but this year we are well prepared and aim to qualify for the next round from the group. Shillong Lajong is a good side and we are expecting a good match tomorrow against them.”

Later, in the second match of the day, Downtown Heroes FC will take on Indian Air Force FT in a Group A encounter in Kolkata.

Both teams will look to register their first points in the tournament after losing their opening games to Kolkata Giants, Mohun Bagan Super Giant, and East Bengal FC respectively.

Downtown Heroes showed resilience and grit in their narrow 1-0 defeat against Mohun Bagan Super Giant. The defending champions found it difficult to penetrate the defence of the side from Srinagar until they scored deep into the second half. Downtown Heroes will look to maintain the same defensive structure but will also want to be more effective while going forward.

On the other hand, the Indian Air Force Football Team stunned the Salt Lake stadium by taking the lead inside 20 minutes against East Bengal but could not maintain the pressure as the star-studded Red and Gold Brigade scored thrice to inflict defeat on the Airmen. Head Coach Priyadarshan will look to cash in on the experience of his players to get positive results out of the game.