Chandigarh football troika leaps high

Showering praise on his ward,coach Harjinder Singh said,”With the way he played in the tournament,I was not surprised at all when his name was suggested by coaches from the other teams among the best players. He is growing from strength to strength in every tournament and he is showing his class to all,” Harjinder,lauding Samuel’s technique,admiring his courage,praising his growing maturity that displayed his class,rolled on.

Adept at playing both as a striker and in the midfielder made Samuel an automatic choice for the coaches to place him among the most complete players,and later among the best players.

“The camaraderie that he showed with Daniel (Lalhlimpuia) and AZ (Lalramzauva) was simply marvellous. In fact,despite the depleted squad due to injury,our team did well because these three players gave their best performances. Samuel played at midfield instead of his usual place at the front and we shifted AZ because we wanted to keep possession of the ball. Daniel,as always,was brilliant in the midfield,” added Harjinder.

Brilliant as they were throughout the tournament,fatigue got the better of them and they lost to Thailand in the semis. “During the league stage,we played four matches of 40 minutes each in a single day. The players were tired after spending all their energy on the field and we had a depleted squad of 13 players only and no good substitutes at disposal. Despite that the players performed well in the first half of the semi-finals. But fatigue crept into the players and because Thailand had good bench strength,they won the match,” informed the coach. For their fine performances in the tournament,both Daniel and AZ were also selected among the five best players of the tournament. Before this,Samuel was named among the best players in the North,North East and East qualifiers of the MUPC held at Jamshedpur.

Nature over nurture

Very often,during the tournaments,Samuel’s face looks so set,so solemn,yet so burdened that the performance often contradicts the expression. Samuel,according to Harjinder,creates so languidly and so artistically that requires others to get on his wavelength and to make his passes worth their weight.

“I have often seen Samuel hitting it off really well with Daniel and AZ. They know where the ball will come and what the other player will do in a certain situation. There were moments when these three players combined well to create goals out of nowhere,” shared Harjinder. Samuel was on target twice,making him one of the top scorers for Chandigarh in the tournament.

After a series of eye-catching performances at the Subroto Cup,National School Games and other similar tournaments,the Mizoram player found himself in the Indian side for the Under-14 camp held earlier this year. While Daniel and AZ is currently serving the nation,wearing the blue flannels and hoping to help India perform well in the 2012 AFC U-16 Championship qualification,to be held in October later this year,Samuel is quietly letting his performances speak.

Currently in Shilaroo attending the summer high altitude camp with his teammates,Samuel,looking to rejuvenate himself after the energy draining tournament,said,”It is always a pleasure to play with Daniel and AZ as they are my seniors and both are doing well for the junior Indian team. I have learned many things from them and it would be a dream come true for me if I get a chance to play along with them for the Indian junior team,” said the 14-year-old player.