All India Football Federation (AIFF) FC thrashed little Angels Paradise School from Manipur 4-1 to claim the under-17 Subroto Cup title as football legend Pele watched from the stands on Friday.
The ‘King of Football’ on a two-day visit to the capital, greeted the fans at the Ambedkar Stadium by going around the ground before kick-off as the jubilant fans screamed his name.
His mere presence motivated the Manipur side as they started the brighter of the two and took a deserved lead in the sixth minute through captain AK loyangamba, who controlled a cross into the box and fired it past the keeper with his left foot.
They however were unable to keep the momentum going as AIFF FC came back into the match by scoring the equaliser in the 25th minute through Baoringdao Bodo, who side footed a Jayananda Singh cross.
With the Brazilian legend cheering the players from the VIP gallery, AIFF FC started brightly in the second half and took the lead in 54th minute through a screamer by Yadav Rahul from nearly 30 yards out.
A minute later, a terrible pass from Manipur’s defence was intercepted by AIFF FC and Edmund lalrindika raced one-on-one with the keeper to score their third goal and kill the contest in the 35-minute-half game.
Frustrated Manipur supporters showed their emotions by throwing bottles on to the ground which delayed play momentarily.
In the 61st minute, Nijwm Muchahary converted a penalty to rub further salt on the Manipur team’s wounds to make it 4-1.
During the presentation ceremony, the legendary Pele gave the winner’s trophy to AIFF’s captain Deependra Negi and their coach Floyd Pinto.
After distributing the cup, the King of Football departed the stadium by waving goodbye to the fans in the stadium.