IAS Diaries Part 7 - Road to Football Finals

There are things that motivate us, intrigue us, indulge us and more importantly push us to our limits. These are different for everyone and to varying extents I suppose. Football drives me over the mundane dimensions, something which can only be felt. And this has been the case since the year 1999 when I saw the Champions League Finals. I fell in love with Sir Alex Ferguson, with David Beckham, with Manchester United and above all, the beautiful game of Football. Although it was already too late to have discovered the love for football, I always wanted to take part in a Football tournament and of course to win it. I could have achieved the same at college but injuries kept me at bay. I could have achieved the same when I was at IRS but unfortunately someone else was pulling the strings. It had to be here. At the Happy Valley Ground. As the home team of the Inter Services Meet.

In the Foundation Course, we did enjoy a lot of wonderful football especially the Inter-Section Football Tournament....err sorry i meant the LBS Pro Football League, as Dr. Raja would want me to refer it as. The good part was that there were many Footballers and you could manage to get enough numbers on the field every evening. After everyone else left, there were hardly any numbers in the IAS to form a team forget about playing everyday. But slowly players emerged as we unveiled some hidden talent of the batch. Even before going on Bharat Darshan, we had many meetings to discuss the players, the formations and the strategies. An advisory was also issued to players to maintain a good stature of their health over these two long months which had the potential to undo all the hard work done in the Foundation Course.

One great thing that happened over the Bharat Darshan, and all credit goes to Apoorv Devgan and others, who called on the Director General of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and requisitioned for some coaches to be sent to LBS for the preparations of the ISM. And we are all grateful to him and SAI to have sent some brilliant coaches. Bajrang ji, who hails from Haryana, came as the Football coach and right from the very first day, we were all so much impressed not just with his knowledge of Football but for the wonderful human being that he is. And from there, started a hectic but enjoyable stint of wonderful Football. We were sort of pushing it, by playing both in the mornings and evenings, but perhaps that was quintessential to put on a good show.

Every morning he would come up with a different kind of drill which focused on a specific skill set. To be frank, I always thought that given the paucity of time we should rather focus on team coordination. That would help us to read the passes and through balls made by the teammates. We were not going to acquire the skills so soon anyway. But who are we to know the nuances of the game. Someone who has spent more than 30 years teaching football, surely knows it better. And man, he was right. We could feel it in the matches that all those silly drills and work outs have actually helped us to improve. He always knew what he was doing. Apart from that, he was very particular about time, he would not let us practice more than what he felt was apt. As he would often say, balance is everything.

We had played some practice matches before the ISM with some of the local teams consisting of mainly teenagers from local schools. We won some, we lost others. But at the end of every match all he would talk about were the good things we did that day. The positives. And at the end he would say that the level at ISM would be no where close to this. And finally the day was here. Just after the inauguration, we were scheduled to play our first match against NAAA (National Academy of Audit and Accounts). Since we had no time to warm up before the match, the first half was rather dull as we tried to max our energy levels. The second half was way better and eventually an easy win for us. I remember the coach saying after the match jokingly that, "अभी आप सब लोग अच्छे मूड में हो, हम एक टीम फोटो ले लेते है, आगे पता नहीं क्या हो, मैं आपको इसी तरह याद रखना चाहूंगा !"

The next match was up against NADT. A tough opponent I would say as we saw them playing their first match. They had good finishers and good headers of the ball. And so we scripted a plan to deal with the same. And with Maradona's grace....err i meant God's grace, all went according to the plan. And we were into the finals against the most dreaded team of the football event, the NPA (National Police Academy). Now they had a pro-team with players mostly from Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and yes from India too. Given the rigorous Police Training, they were possibly at the peak of their fitness. The agility and stamina was more than apparent in their game. If we were to beat this team, our synergy needed to be at it's peak. As that was our strength. Unlike them, we have been practicing together for quite some time now. And that matters in a team game. Individually all can be brilliant but if they lack synergy, nothing can help.

Of course we had to change the game plan for this too. Instead of playing three players up front, we decided to go with only two and add one more to the defense. I have to confess I have thoroughly enjoyed playing as a Central Defender all this long. I started my football as a striker only to realize that I would do better at the wings as mid fielder. But here at LBS, I thought it was important to stay back and be part of the wall. Defense might not have that glory of scoring goals but it offers you the silent satisfaction of holding the guard and not letting the team down. The final game was more than an Epic in terms of thrills and up-downs. We were leading 2-1 for most part of the game. Thanks to Raja Gopal Sunkara for the wonderful goals that he scored. They were attacking ferociously and we were defending tirelessly. But in that one moment of weakness, 20 seconds before the final whistle, they scored again, sending the game into penalty shoot outs.

Pic Credits : Uttam S

The goal post where the shoot out took place was possibly jinxed. The ball would just not go in, for both the teams. It came down to the last penalty. Raja Gopal was to take that and perhaps everyone had a feeling that he would score. He did. We were just a save away and Sakhtya did the wonderful save once again. That was it. We had won the football finals. We had defeated NPA in football. A first in the history of the Inter Services meet. The home crowd went berserk. The adrenaline inundated the whole Happy Valley ground. It had become, a theater of dreams. A dream, a long cherished one finally realized. Just before the last kick, I could see that our coach had both eyes covered with his hands. He was so attached to the idea of us wining. And when we did, there were tears in his eyes. And as a team, that's possibly the best gift you can give to your mentor. Just to mention, it was not just football, he had gone to watch every game of LBS be it Basketball, Volleyball, Tennis or any other, to cheer the players from LBS. Sir, we were lucky to have you here.

Standing - Vinay Gowda, Raja Gopal, Sh Bajrang Ji, Kamal Kishore, Prabhat Malik, Naman Kishore, Sumit Sattawan, Chaitanya
Sitting - Apporv Devgan, Aman, Yours truly, Renzin and Sakhtya.

Of course the win is dedicated to our Coach Shri Bajrang ji. And to the wonderful players of our team. And to the fabulous support of our colleagues. But there is this one other person I want to dedicate this to. To this cute little kid from the locality who would always come in the evenings to see us practice. He himself played quite well which symbolizes the great untapped potential India has in the youngsters. But to the irony, he had no football shoes. One day he asked me,"Sir, how much do these football shoes of yours cost, i want one". And when i told him, he was like," Ooo, that much, I perhaps will never get them". I told him if he comes regularly, he would get a pair from me. It is sad to see such great talent in the country without the right kind of support and guidance. This win, is for him, and thousands like him, to the great sporting talent of India!