Match Point

Football crazy Indians who stay up late to follow the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League have something to celebrate. 14-year-old Mehak Bahri from KR Mangalam School in Delhi will lend a local flavour to the semi-final encounter between Lyon and Bayern Munich on April 27 at the Stade de Gerland stadium in Lyon. Bahri has been selected to be the official Adidas ball-bearer for this encounter. The teenager will escort both club teams on to the field before the kick-off,and hand over the ball to the referees. “I am not nervous since I wasn’t expecting this,but I am excited and surprised at being chosen,” says the self-confessed football-crazy teen. Though her favourite team,Chelsea,is out of the League,Bahri says she will be cheering for Lyon. “I don’t have any favourite players from Lyon but I have made up my mind to cheer for them. I will probably get a few autographs on the field too,” she admits. Bahri was selected out of a contest among 16,000 school students. “UEFA had selected India as the country from where we would pick the ball-bearer for this match. And during the contest,we found Mehak to be the most passionate footballer,” says Tushar Goculdas,director of marketing and sales,Adidas India.

While her school might lack a girl’s football team,her male classmates have already given her an exhaustive list of autographs and various souvenirs to get from there. “My girlfriends at school don’t follow football closely. But the boys are envious,” grins Bahri,who will be leaving for France with her father. “Even my dad has begun following football closely after this,” she laughs.