Bhubaneswar: Bureaucrat-XI were crowned champions of the 11th Tata Steel Friendship Cup oneday football tournament, which was played at the Kalinga Stadium here, Saturday.
Bureaucrat-XI defeated hosts Tata Steel XI via penalty shoot-out in a keenly-contested final. The match ended goalless in regulation time. In the tie-breaker, the Bureaucrats held their nerves to convert all the five spot-kicks while their opponents could only score thrice.
Earlier, the ultimate champions scripted a comfortable 3-1 win over Leaders-XI in the first semifinal. SD Durga opened the scoring for Bureaucrat-XI and the side adding two more goals to the tally. Arun Sahu pulled one back for the Leaders-XI.
In the second semifinal, Tata Steel XI beat Media-XI by a solitary goal scored by Mohan Singh Gagrai.
Other awards
Best Defender: Bibhuti Biswal
Best Midfielder: Aditya Thakur
Best Forward: Arun Sahoo
Best Goalkeeper: Amitab Thakur
Promising Player: JD Pati
Fair Play Trophy: Suresh Mahapatra
post news network