Church Boys and Army Hodge

In the prematch conference on Friday, the coaches and captains of both teams said that the chances of winning the title are 50-50 percent. They claimed that the chances are equal as both teams are balanced and excellent. Both the teams said that they will include their players who returned from playing against Bahrain in the Asian qualifiers for the World Cup.

Army coach Meghraj KC said that the match against the church boys, who have been in a high rhythm lately, is a challenge when there is a shortage of players. Since becoming 'A' Division League champions, Church Boys have become a team that can compete with anyone, so they understand the strategy and will enter the field accordingly. In Mofusal, one after the other Gold Cups are happening continuously, he said that he took a team of 30 people to prevent the performance of the players from decreasing. Captain Navayug Shrestha claimed that he will win this year to forget the pain of being the runner-up despite reaching the final in the 12th edition of Itahari Gold Cup.

Church Boys assistant coach Ruben Rai said that the finals will be very exciting and competitive as Army is a strong team. He said that since both teams have a majority of national players, they will enter the field with the strategy of winning the title. Indicating that he had learned from the difficulty of playing the Budhasubba Gold Cup less than 24 hours after becoming the champion of Jhapa Gold Cup, Rai said, 'This year most of the players have had enough rest, we are taking advantage of that, we have experienced goalkeepers and players like Deep Karki. Rai indicated that the Army, which played the pre-quarterfinals of the Virat Gold Cup on Friday evening, would have the advantage of having to play the finals of the Itahari Gold Cup less than 24 hours later. Deep Karki, the captain of the Church Boys, mentioned that he has played with the Army many times before and said that he will perform well after correcting the shortcomings of the past.

Church Boys will be looking for their second title of the season while Army will be looking for their fourth. When these two teams met twice in the ongoing season, Army won both games. Army won their first title of the year by defeating Church Boys 2-0 in the Chief Minister Kohlpur Gold Cup final in Kattik. In January 23rd Aha-Rara Pokhara Gold Cup, Army won the second title of the season for the first time and won 2-1 against Church Boys in the semi-final and decided the final. Army is also the fifth gold cup champion team. In the Panchthar Gold Cup on February 19, Army won the third title of the year by defeating the host Panchthar Club by 4-2 goals. Army will now win the Itahari Gold Cup to increase the number of titles.

After defeating another departmental team APF 3-0 in the first participation, the Church Boys who became Jhapa Gold Cup champions are trying to win the second title of this year by winning the Ithari Gold Cup. Church Boys, who won the title by defeating Himalayan Sherpa in last year's Simra Gold Cup, are the runners-up team of the previous Itahari Gold Cup. The Church Boys reached the final by defeating the host Rashtriya Jagriti Club 1-0, while the Army won 2-1 in a penalty shootout over former winners Everest Club Morang. In the quarter finals, Army defeated Birthamod United and Church Boys defeated NRT.

The winner will win Rs 10 lakh and the runner-up will win Rs 5 lakh. The best player will get Rs 1 lakh. 20,000 will be given to those who are the best.