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The 133rd edition of the IndianOil\u00a0Durand<\/span>\u00a0Cup<\/span>\u00a0is just weeks away, promising sheer drama and mind-boggling \u2018golazos\u2019, delivering top-notch entertainment for football fans.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Durand<\/span>\u00a0Cup<\/span>\u00a0is the oldest football tournament in Asia and one of the oldest competitions in the world, having first being played in 1888.<\/p>\n Here are the reasons to watch the Durand<\/span>\u00a0Cup<\/span>\u00a02024:<\/p>\n 1. First Tournament for Sunil Chhetri since retirement: <\/strong><\/p>\n Shockwaves were sent across the footballing world when legend Sunil Chhetri announced his retirement from international football after making 151 appearances and scoring 94 goals, becoming the fourth-highest goal-scorer in international men\u2019s football. The 39-year-old veteran is all set to play in his first competition since this announcement. After lifting the coveted trophy in 2022, Chhetri will be focused on reclaiming the title with Bengaluru FC.<\/p>\n 2. Shillong and Jamshedpur hosting the tournament for the first time:<\/strong><\/p>\n The\u00a0Durand<\/span>\u00a0Cup<\/span>\u00a02024 will be hosted across four cities: Kolkata, Jamshedpur, Shillong, and Kokrajhar. Shillong, The\u00a0\u2018Scotland of the East\u2019 is ready to welcome teams from the ISL, I-League, state clubs, and the army, providing spectators with an amazing viewing experience. Shillong Lajong, the team from the host city, has the opportunity to bring glory to the city by winning the prestigious trophy.<\/p>\n Also \u2018Steel City of India\u2019 Jamshedpur, will welcome the legend of\u00a0Durand<\/span>\u00a0for the first time this year. A city which has been involved with the growth and development of Indian football through the Tata Football Academy for ages and through the Red Miners of Jamshedpur FC these days, will at last get what it deserved richly,\u00a0top-level tournament football.<\/p>\n 3.\u00a0 Kolkata Clubs Vying for glory:<\/strong><\/p>\n The heavyweights from West Bengal, Mohun Bagan SG, and Emami East Bengal FC have a rich history in the\u00a0Durand<\/span>\u00a0Cup<\/span>, winning the title 17 and 16 times respectively. Mohun Bagan SG are the defending champions, having won the title against arch-rivals East Bengal last year, making them the most successful team in\u00a0Durand<\/span>\u00a0Cup<\/span>\u00a0history. This year, the rivalry will heat up as East Bengal aims to claim the title and level with their rivals, while Mohun Bagan SG looks to continue its dominance by winning the title consecutively.<\/p>\n 4. Debutants from Uttar Pradesh:<\/strong><\/p>\n Inter Kashi, founded in 2023, will be making their debut in the\u00a0Durand<\/span>\u00a0Cup<\/span>\u00a0just a year after their inception. They are the first professional club from Uttar Pradesh to participate in the tournament. Spanish heavyweight Atl\u00e9tico Madrid, along with Andorran clubs Inter Escaldes and FC Andorra, have collaborated with the Uttar Pradesh-based football club. The debutants have a chance to etch their names in history by clinching the coveted title.<\/p>\n The prestigious\u00a0Durand<\/span>\u00a0Cup<\/span>\u00a0will see 24 teams competing for glory, hosted across four cities: Kolkata, Jamshedpur, Shillong, and Kokrajhar, with Shillong hosting the tournament for the first time. Fans can catch all the exhilarating action and stunning goals from the\u00a0Durand<\/span>\u00a0Cup<\/span>\u00a0starting on 27th July, exclusively on the Sony Sports Network.<\/p>\n Football fans can catch all the action from the\u00a0Durand<\/span>\u00a0Cup<\/span>\u00a0only on the Sony Sports Network, while all 43 games will also be live-streamed on the Sony Liv OTT platform.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [ad_2] [ad_1] The 133rd edition of the IndianOil\u00a0Durand\u00a0Cup\u00a0is just weeks away, promising sheer drama and mind-boggling \u2018golazos\u2019, delivering top-notch entertainment for football fans. The\u00a0Durand\u00a0Cup\u00a0is the oldest football tournament in Asia and one of the oldest competitions in the world, having first being played in 1888. Here are the reasons to watch the Durand\u00a0Cup\u00a02024: 1. First Tournament […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36684,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thenftimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Hero-ISL-Trophy-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenftimes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenftimes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenftimes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenftimes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenftimes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36683"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thenftimes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36683\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36685,"href":"https:\/\/thenftimes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36683\/revisions\/36685"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenftimes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenftimes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenftimes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenftimes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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