This is just the beginning: Chima

Now that New Delhi Heroes have become the first club from the Capital to qualify for the main round of the Federation Cup under the qualification system Mughals FC had qualified in 1995 through a direct entry for being the DSA champions...

Now that New Delhi Heroes have become the first club from the Capital to qualify for the main round of the Federation Cup under the qualification system Mughals FC had qualified in 1995 through a direct entry for being the DSA champions, coach Chima Okorie has set himself up for the bigger stage, the I-League. 8220;I want to see them playing in the I-League next year. That8217;s my only dream, my only aim,8221; said Chima.

A pleasant surprise or not, ND Heroes will get a taste of playing in the I-League courtesy their success this season. But they have been pitted with stalwarts like Sporting Clube de Goa, East Bengal and JCT in Group C 8212; arguably the group of death.

Chima, however, feels the tougher the opponents the better will it be. 8220;That makes it even better. We aren8217;t scared of anybody. We8217;ll play East Bengal on December 10. Come and watch, you8217;ll see what I mean,8221; added Chima.

His team are now the defending DSA champions within a year of being taken over by a corporate group, and the Nigerian thinks the overall atmosphere has played a big role. 8220;The first concern used to be salary, the finances. Now, whatever we need, however we travel, wherever we stay, the basic facilities have changed so much. It8217;s completely changed the mental make-up of the team. The corporate help has helped,8221; Chima said. 8220;We have to have the winning mentality. This year, we have played more matches, and football seems to be getting easier.8221;

Amid all the celebrations, though, the fact remains that ND Heroes have only four Capital-based players 8212; Amjad Ali Khan, Manoj Joshi, Prashant Jhaggi and Rajat Guha.

Both the DSA and the coach see this as a slow process of grooming players that can8217;t be hastened. 8220;The year when they Osian8217;s took over, they roped in all Delhi-origin players from outside. Seeing their performance, whoever played well was retained,8221; said NK Bhatia, DSA secretary.

Chima said work is in progress with youngsters. 8220;You have to create good players. We are working with youngsters right now for that,8221; added Chima.