Andhra Pradesh win comfortably in Swami Vivekananda U20 Men's NFC

IANS April 13, 2025 168 views

In an impressive display at the Swami Vivekananda U-20 Men's National Football Championship, Andhra Pradesh secured a comfortable 4-1 victory against Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu. The team's strategic gameplay saw goals from Sethu Madhav, Bharat Kumar Reddy, Veera Sai Harsha Vardhan, and Badri Surendra Babu. Despite the win, Andhra Pradesh still faces a challenging path to the quarterfinals, needing an outright victory in their next match. The tournament continues with more exciting group stage matches scheduled in the coming days.

"An early goal by Sethu Madhav set the tone for our dominant performance" - Andhra Pradesh Team Coach
Narainpur, April 13 : Andhra Pradesh registered a 4-1 win against Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu in Group F of the Swami Vivekananda U-20 Men's National Football Championship (NFC) 2025, at the Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama Ground in Narainpur, Chhattisgarh, on Sunday.

Key Points

1

Andhra Pradesh wins with four different goal scorers

2

Defending champions Delhi also progress in Group F

3

Only a win guarantees Andhra Pradesh's quarterfinal spot

4

Match played at Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama Ground

Narainpur (Chhattisgarh), April 13 (IANS) Andhra Pradesh registered a 4-1 win against Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu in Group F of the Swami Vivekananda U-20 Men's National Football Championship (NFC) 2025, at the Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama Ground in Narainpur, Chhattisgarh, on Sunday. The winners led 3-1 at halftime. Marappa Gowda Sethu Madhav (8’), B. Bharat Kumar Reddy (37’), B. Veera Sai Harsha Vardhan (43’), and Badri Surendra Babu (72’) scored one each for Andhra Pradesh. Nikhil Nayak (32’) was the lone scorer for the losing side.

While Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu were eliminated from the competition after suffering back-to-back defeats in the three-team group, Andhra Pradesh, despite the victory, are left with a rather challenging task ahead to qualify for the quarterfinals.

Defending champions Delhi are the other team in the group, who, too, have bagged three points after a whopping 14-0 win over Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu. While all Delhi need now is a draw in their last group league outing to make the last-eight stage, only an outright victory can clear Andhra Pradesh’s path to the next level.

Andhra Pradesh struck early. In the eighth minute, Sethu Madhav found the target through a jungle of legs in the rival box. Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu equalised in the 32nd minute through Nikhil Nayak off a free kick.

Their joy, however, was short-lived as Bharat Kumar Reddy and Harsha Vardhan scored twice before halftime to take charge of the proceedings. Substitute Surendra Babu increased the lead in the second half to virtually put the game to bed, according to information received from the All-India Football Federation (AIFF) on Sunday.

On Monday (April 14), the Swami Vivekananda U-20 Men's National Football Championship 2025 will witness matches in Group E. Telangana will take on Chandigarh in an early morning match (7.30 am), with Pondicherry meeting Uttarakhand at 4.15 pm in the two fixtures scheduled on the day.

Reader Comments

R
Rahul K.
Great performance by Andhra Pradesh! That 4-1 scoreline shows real dominance. Sethu Madhav's early goal must have really set the tone for the match. Excited to see how they fare against Delhi next! ⚽
P
Priya M.
While the win is impressive, I'm concerned about Andhra's defense conceding against a weaker side. They'll need to tighten up against Delhi's attack which scored 14 goals in their last match!
S
Sanjay T.
That 32nd minute equalizer from Nikhil Nayak must have been exciting! Shame Dadra & Nagar Haveli couldn't maintain the momentum. Good to see goals coming from different players in the Andhra squad though.
A
Ananya R.
The description of Sethu Madhav's goal "through a jungle of legs" is so vivid! 😄 Really enjoying following this tournament - it's great to see young talent getting national exposure.
V
Vikram S.
Interesting that even with this win, Andhra's qualification isn't guaranteed. The match against Delhi will be crucial. Hope the boys can pull off an upset against the defending champions!
M
Meena P.
Kudos to the organizers for hosting these matches in Narainpur. Bringing national tournaments to smaller cities helps grow the sport across India. Looking forward to tomorrow's Group E matches!

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Tags:
Swami Vivekananda U-20 Football Andhra Pradesh Football National Football Championship Youth Sports Narainpur Tournament
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