Odisha FC suffered second successive defeat in the 133rd Durand Cup Football Tournament when they were trounced 5-1 by NorthEast United in their third and last Group-E match at the SAI Stadium in Kokrajhar, Assam today. Paogoumang Singson scored the consolation for the Juggernauts.

With this win, NorthEast United entered the knock-out stage, garnering nine points from three matches while Odisha FC finished their campaign with three points. Earlier in their first two matches, Bhubaneswar-based Odisha FC crushed Border Security Force Football Team 5-0, but lost to Bodoland FC 0-2.

Odisha FC fielded a 22-member squad, featuring experienced and promising players. A total of 24 leading Indian club and institutional teams participated in this edition. The 24 teams were divided into six groups of four each, totaling 43 matches in a round-robin league format followed by knockout games. Matches are being held in Kolkata, Kokrajhar, Shillong, and Jamshedpur.

The group winners and the two best second-placed teams will advance to the knockout stage. In the previous edition, Mohun Bagan SG clinched their 17th Durand Cup title by defeating arch-rivals East Bengal FC 1-0.

ODISHA FC SQUAD: Goalkeepers: Niraj Kumar, Siddhanta Padhan. Defenders: Tankadhar Bag, Subham Bhattacharya, Paogoumang Singson, Dheeraj Datta, Kushang Subba, Jeremy Zohminghlua, Aryan Khokar. Midfielders: Lalliansanga Renthlei, Narendra Naik, Raja Harijan, Pungte Lapung, Leivon Renglun Anand, Givson Singh. Forwards: Aphaoba Singh, Hemant Thakur, Manav Rawat, Dinesh Singh, Roshan Panna, Rahul Mukhi, Kartik Hantal.

ODISHA FC RESULTS:

3 August 2024 (Group-E League): Odisha FC (Rahul Mukhi 55, Aphaoba Singh 56, Givson Singh 58, 80, Roshan Panna 78) beat BSF FT 5-0.

6 August 2024 (Group-E League): Odisha FC lost to Bodoland FC (Dilliram Sanyasi 42, Arjun Mardi 88) 0-2.

16 August 2024 (Group-E League): Odisha FC (Paogoumang Singson 64) lost to NorthEast United FC (Jithin 17, 20, Tankadhar 56- OG, Guillermo 75, Thoi 85) 1-5.
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PHOTO: Players of Odisha FC celebrate after scoring a goal against BSF Football Team at the Durand Cup Tournament in Kokrajhar on 3 August 2024.