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Journalism of Courage
After their experience in National Under-19 camp at Goa,these four players from Chandigarh are eyeing a place in the U-19 Indian team for the AFC qualifiers
Looking fitter and stronger,the four boys from Chandigarh who had gone to attend the Under-19 camp in Goa,are back in city. The duration of the camp was not much-just two months but for Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (St Stephen’s Football Academy) ,Bikramjit Singh and Deepak Devrani (Chandigarh Football Academy) who had earlier attended the Under-15 and Under-16 camp,it was another chance to give a shot to their already staggering career. AIFF’s plan to stick to same players who had represented in Under-16 AFC Championship for the sake of Indian football worked in their advantage. “Graduating from Under-16 to Under-19 was pretty easy as the coaches really made us feel home. And since we had already attended the camp twice before,we knew what the coaches expected from us,” shared tall Gurpreet who acts as the custodian for the team. Meanwhile,Jony Chand was the only new face from Chandigarh in the Under-19 camp who got a nod from the selectors during the 45th Junior National Football Championship for Dr. B. C. Roy Trophy at Bhilai,Chattisgarh from 24th December 2008 to 10th January. “Actually,I had made it to the Under-15 camp in 2007 but due to fever I could not play. But,this time I was not going to let the opportunity slip away and put forth my best performance in front of chief coach Colin Toal and other coaches. It was a very good experience and I met new players who could play very good football,” said the half-back winger who attended the camp for three months.
Useful exposure
During the time when Jony was slugging it out for the preparatory camp for the junior nationals in Chandigarh,his counterpart Gurpreet was busy playing exhibition matches to keep up the tempo for the Under-19 AFC qualifiers. “Before the new players came in February,we played two exhibition matches in Bhutan in November. And we also played against Goa Under-21 team and then there were matches against Under-19 teams of Sporting Club,Dempo FC and Vasco Club,” recalled the student of SD School,Sector 32. With gym session included for the first time this year,the boys were also introduced to special schedules,especially made keeping the needs of players in mind. “Not only we had to do different exercises but a special schedule was also prepared for the players. Goalkeepers were made to undergo different exercises under coach Tanmay Basu while other coaches had also fixed up special exercises for players who play at different positions. Also,four teams were made and the 72 players had to employ the tactics taught by the respective coaches. That ways,the focus was on development of players as a whole,” said stopper Bikramjit who acted as the skipper of the Under-16 team last year.
What made the boys put more effort into their game was the frequent visit of Bob Houghton,coach of the Indian senior team. “Though we did not have any chat with him,his mere presence lifted our spirit up. He would watch our matches and we also came to know that he would later review our videos,” said Deepak Devrani who plays at the central midfield position.
After qualifying for the Under-15 AFC Cup in 2007,the boys saw tough times when they failed to qualify for the Under-16 AFC Cup last year. “Right now we are all geared up for the Under-19 AFC Cup to be held in 2010. Before that we have qualifying matches starting from the month of October. If we qualify for the AFC Cup 2010 then we have chances of making it to the Under-21 World Cup in 2011. But before that we are eagerly waiting for the name of the 35 probables to be announced for the AFC Cup in the month of April,” said a confident looking Bikramjit.
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