DFI - The Beginning

A 6 hour flight is pretty boring. But flying in this posh Etihad aircraft made it alot more entertaining. As soon as we landed in Munich, Jaineel and I were really pumped. It was really hard to contain our excitement as soon as we walked in for immigration. But we were also scared about immigration, considering we might not clear it. 

Need i say more? 

Fortunately, we did. Afterwards, we were waiting at the airport for Eric sir and the other lads to land at Munich from Paris.

The first thing that caught my eye was how clean Germany was. Spotless. Our journey from the airport to Bad Aibling took around 2 hours. 

Part of the DFI campus

Once we reached the academy, we were taken to our rooms. Mine was on the top floor which had no fans, one window and two bunk beds. My roommates were Franko(21), Shaurya (15) and Varun(17). The campus was amazing, it was a kind which actually made you feel like a pro footballer. Dressing rooms, laundry room, bistro, one Astro turf training pitch, a 4th Generation Football field, a grass pitch and an indoor football turf and a gym! It was literally paradise!

On my first day of training, it was raining. It was extremely cold, hard to breath at first but I gradually got accustomed to it. 

The 4-Gen Turf!

We did a few drills for our ball control and we failed miserably. Güler sir and Steven sir weren't impressed. On our second day, we were made to play against the U-17s and U-19s. As I had mentioned earlier, I played in the centre of the park. I was pushed and shrugged off everytime I tried to tackle anyone. But I did make a few good runs and that was the only highlight. Days passed and I stuck with my decision.

The Bistro

During our stay there, we went to Bad Aibling quite a few times. There was a volksfest in town and our somewhat caretaker/elder brother Julian took us for it. The food! Ahhh! Nutella crepes and nutella churros! Burgers of every meat! And n number of men and women enjoying their classic mugs of beer. Also, there were games like dashing cars and darts which made me enjoy my early childhood again.

Ah, it was the stuff of dreams.

Deutsche Fußball Internat, Bad Aibling, Germany.

The other day I was looking for trial dates when there was information given about selections regarding a two month trial in Germany which was being conducted by an ex-India International, Eric Benny.
I was not able to show my game to Sir during trials at Cooperage because I had to leave for Thiruvananthapuram for my NDA exam. But I still gave my best in the without ball drills and somehow that managed to impress sir enough.
Fast forward a month and a half, I was completely dressed up in a suit ready to depart for Germany. My destination was the Deutsche Fußball Internat, Bad Aibling in Germany. My travelling companion was a goalie, Jaineel. We became pretty good friends as time passed, I scored quite a few crackers against him too. :P
Germany is a really beautiful country, it is bloody amazing. It is green, completely, every car is either an Audi, Merc, BMW or a Volkswagen. There are no traffic jams and absolutely no honking! Honestly, I missed the honking later on.
I spent a month in Germany. The first day was freezing cold, really hard to get adjusted at first. The second day we played against the German lads and I got whacked. I expected myself to be outshone comfortably, but they whuped me. Literally. I decided that I would play my favoured role of a central midfielder but this decision came back to haunt me for the first two weeks. I couldn't adjust with the physicality of the rest of the players. It really showed me my place, I lost alot of confidence. The drills and practice sessions were amazing! Güler sir always kept us active. Either would take us on a run at night or practice sessions on holidays. There were two training sessions a day. One at 8 AM which was a personal training session and the team training session at 6 PM. This helped me get accustomed to how the U-17 Germans played.
Two weeks in, there was an India Vs Germany match in which I was included. This was the match in which I played alongside various internationals. I was a substitute and was introduced at half time as a left back. I was out of position as I had never played there before. But I made a few good runs, had three shots on target and I loved it! Later on, I was part of the U-17 DFI team to play against Munich Football School. Coach Schröder (Best coach) made me play as a left back and I played the whole 90 Mins! That was the BEST game I have ever played in my entire life!
The number of memories and stories of DFI are endless. And you would need to speak with me for quite some time to get it all out of me.
DFI taught me alot. It helped invigorate a fire inside me to play the best I can and always be versatile. It taught me to experience before making up your mind.
I was offered to go back for two years, but I didn't due to a few reasons. I would love to go back because I know that I would give it my all to make my mark.
"Playing football with your feet is one thing, but playing with your heart is another."


 

Red Phoenix Football Club

As soon as the bell rang for the break in school. All my friends came to my class for an important discussion. No, it wasn't about any girl. It was about establishing a club of our own. I had heard about US Club organizing a football tournament in the near future and I had a decision to make. I had received an offer from the club which eventually won the inaugural tournament or playing at some place called home.
I preferred the latter and told my friends about the idea and while some of them were skeptical about it, I went with my gut. We spent a whole 30 minutes just coming up with a name. From Banana Boys to Pokemon Club, we eventually decided on Red Phoenix FC. We played the first tournament and lost in the first round 3-2 to people 3 years older than us. Not bad for 6th graders right?
Ever since 2009, many vital players left due to transfers. Nevertheless, I continued looking for players to play for me and I must say I have now found a really good and talented bunch of players. We now play tournaments all across Mumbai. From Colaba to Thane to Andheri.
Many times I have found myself to be one of the youngest in the squad, but leading the team from the front has helped me develop.


Few of the biggest tournaments in which we made a name for ourselves are the Christmas Cup at Thane where we finished second, one at Cooperage where we were the semi finalists and the most prestigious was the Nike winners stays: Risk everything tournament in which we finished 6th out of 300 teams from the whole of Mumbai. I've met alot of the best players I've ever seen through RPFC, made alot of friends and learnt alot about the beautiful game.
We are always up for a challenge. We may not always win, but we certainly never back down. We may get shot down, but we always rise back up and we go again.

The Mental Aspect.

Life's hard eh?

Ive been through a lot over the years. Disappointment after disappointment. Defeat after defeat. But something has always kept me going.

Every single time i have not won a game or someone has had the better off me, it hurts. I myself feel that I'm not good enough to compete. Every time that I'm not selected, i doubt myself, i feel that i don't deserve to be there, i feel that i have wasted my Dad and Mums hard earned money on nothing. Quite frankly, i feel i suck. But something from inside keeps me going.

     

This something is your mental strength. 

As a footballer trying to make the cut as a pro, setbacks are a must. But should you let these setbacks actually set you back? The thing that drives me after every thing i haven't achieved is the dream i have of one day competing at the highest level possible. The biggest barrier you have to cross is your own mental barrier that you cannot do it. Once you leap, climb or crawl over this humongous hurdle, then you can start looking forward.

Every morning, i wake up and think about what i want to achieve in life. Setting s goal and working towards it helps in keeping you dedicated and determined to reach it. Taking disappointments in the right sense and using that loss to your advantage helps in your mental aspect.

Once you develop such kinds of mental strength that you can achieve whatever you want, you will achieve it. Because to be the best, you have to visualise the dream and the work towards it. On your journey to the top, you will make mistakes. Its alright to make mistakes because it shows that you're trying, because it is through mistakes that you learn.

So do NOT give up, no matter what. Keep pushing, fight through all the pain, fight through the bad days and only then will you earn the best days! 

Never stop working hard, because with hard work and mental strength, nothing can stop you!

Rise and Grind.

Bajaj Allianz Camp 2013

Hindustan times. Page 25. An article regarding Bayern Munich and selections. Boing! My antennas went up. Right away i followed the instructions and messaged the given number. And exactly a month later, I'm standing at the Mssa grounds in between a few thousand. Registration done and play time was on call.

Luckily i found a few friends of mine, the Kumar brothers and a few of my school mates. It was like God was keeping an eye on me constantly when i was placed with my friends in the same team. I was comfortable and my game showed for it. The Kumar brothers and I qualified for the next round.

Again, I was with Praful on the same side. We were combining really well. Someone crossed the ball in, with one touch Praful changed direction and BAM! Bottom corner. Praful was in for the final round. Later on i was fouled at the 30 yard line. A war of words broke out regarding who will take the free kick. With my mouth, there was only one winner. I placed the ball with love.  Caressed it. Hehe. Aiming for the top corner i took my stride and sweetly struck the ball. It didn't reach the intended target but it lay perfectly in the bottom corner. The keeper didn't even attempt to save. What luck! I too made it into the final round along with the Kumar brothers.

The final round was scary. Alex Ambrose was the chief selector. And my match was in the end. The final game. Everyone played extremely well. I really don't remember what happened in the match. But all i know was that i gave my 500%. God repaid my hard work with a spot in the top 26 out of 1200. We were divided into two teams. A and B. I was placed in Mumbai-A. Mumbai-A was the dream team. We were unstoppable. We headed for Pune later that month. The whole squad gelled really well. All smooth flow.

We were supposed to play the Pune A & B sides as well as the Mumbai-B in a round robin style tournament. The top 2 teams would play in the final. The best player would be selected to fly to Germany to train in Bayerns world class academy! 

We all gave our all. I captained and even assisted a few goals playing in the centre of the park! We played the best football Pune has seen. We killed each side. Praful, Melroy and I were on the shortlist for the best player. But in the last match, Melroy suffered from cramp, Praful's game deteriorated and so did mine. In a matter of minutes my dream of going to Germany shattered.

Nevertheless, my team did well as we took home the trophy back to Mumbai! Each player got a cash award of Rs. 5000, a personal trophy, a shirt, a medal, a football and a ride back home with memories that i can never forget. And it is true, there is a higher power. I worked my socks off and God helped me get selected for Pune FC U-17!

I didn't get selected, i didn't maintain my game throughout, but hey, look at the positives. I made my mark in Pune, i made a whole lot of friends, i improved my game and i crossed another hurdle in my journey.