By Shoubhik Mukhopadhyay,
AIFF Media Team

CUTTACK: Punjab has an admirable legacy of producing sports persons, let alone footballers but the twin state of Haryana has never been able to match up. The table has turned now, and Haryana is constantly in the news for promoting football, especially women's football.

The resilient girls from Haryana are on the cusp of adding one feather in their hat on Sunday (July 17, 2016), should they win their maiden Junior National Football Champions final against Manipur, who are basking in the glory of capturing the silverware twice in a row.

"It's clear as daylight that Manipur are going to start as the favourites. Now it's up to us to thwart their attacking moves and who knows, it might turn out to be our match,” Ashwani Kumar, Coach of Haryana told www.the-aiff.com after their win against Odisha in the semi-final.

Haryana girls have been a constant performer recently and they have always come into the news for all the right reasons. They have clinched the Subroto Cup in 2015 and now they are in the final of the Junior National Football Championship 2016-17.

"Earlier there hasn't been a motivation amongst the girls to come out and play Football. But the trend is changing now. More girls are coming to join our Camps,” gaffer Anil Dhull can't hide his glee while describing the present scenario of Haryana girls' Football.

Ashwani Kumar quickly chips in. "But we can't just sit and adopt a laid back approach. Our responsibility has increased and we have to rightly nurture these kids. Otherwise, whole the purpose will fall flat."

Nisha, the ace Striker is the girl to watch out for in the final. The maverick fan of Ronaldo vents out her desire to leave Cuttack with the Trophy. "Be it 1-0 or 10-0, the result matters. Surely the impetus will be with Manipur, but we won't leave the battlefield without fighting. France was the favourite in the Euro 2016 final, but Portugal had the last laugh. Didn’t they?"

Albeit the first-choice goalie Shreya's chances are bleak to feature in the Final, courtesy a sustained injury, she'll be the last woman standing if required. "We don't get this opportunity every day. Although we can't put more pressure on ourselves but also we have to play a perfect brand of Football to outsmart Manipur."