Adidas Uprising 2017

​I had just got back from the gym around 8 AM when my mother told me that she had sent me an email. After munching on a heavenly English breakfast, I opened the mail.

The mail contained information regarding Adidas Uprising and fortunately, Bangalore was a venue for football. The last time I had participated in an Adidas Uprising was in 2015 with my own club, Red Phoenix, where we finished a disappointing second. The hurtful memory of finishing second sparked a fire inside me which made me want to win that much more.

I was really glad I was getting to play with few of my former teammates. Our charismatic leader, Jana, my favourite midfield partner, Karan. With Yashu covering defence and Mohit, Rohan, Ani backing us up with Nishant on goal, we knew that we have a very strong side.

'2:45 PM 18th Nov- Nights Watch Vs PCF Field 4 Turf Park, Koramangala' read the fixtures list. We started the game with a bang. Even though it had been a while since all of us played together, it didn't seem that way. The team was in sync. Every player knew what they had to do. We kept the ball, crisp passes, incisive through balls, composed defending, you name it, we did it.

I received the ball just ahead of half line and looked up to spot options. With no success, I carried the ball in my stride and pushed forward. I unleashed a shot after creating enough space. Deflection. Goal! Scenario! 1-0 up and an entire game to play. Karan soon added one more goal and we were cruising. Still, on my high after scoring, I tried another run. Only this time, I was tackled, beaten and next thing you know, it's 2-1. They soon equalised but our strike force in Jana was too much to handle as we eventually won the game 3-2.

Our second match was against a youthful and energetic side. Again, just like that last game, we kept the ball and waited to find space. Which we did, with quite some ease as I scored one and so did Jana. The final scoreline read a comfortable 2-0 victory for Nights Watch. Onto the quarterfinals.

The next round of fixtures took place on the 19th. After a good night's rest, I was raring to go. Our quarterfinals were against a side that we knew we were going to belt. It was just a question of how ruthless we were going to be. A splendid piece of passing led to our first goal. A quick-fire equaliser brought us back to Earth and we now knew we had to step it up. After a few substitutions, the opposition didn't know what hit them. The fresh burst of energy Nishant, Mohit, Rohan and Anirudh were providing was out of this world. Everyone was combining really well and that patience eventually paid off when we scored two more to end the match 3-1.

Turf Park, Koramangala.

Only two matches stood between me and that coveted title. I knew that we had a really great chance of winning the entire tournament. But I didn't want to think more about winning the title and jinxing it, so I carried on concentrating only at the match in hand.

Our opposition had one player from our university team. We had discussed beforehand itself that we cannot afford to give Dominic any space or he will make us pay.

Both the teams looked fit and ready to go. Personally, I felt that the opposition was slightly intimidated by us. We seemed to be oozing out class. We had developed a sense of invisibility during the course of this tournament and I guess we proved to the world that we were the best team that tournament. That match, although a blur, was a really intense match. Intense in the sense, every player of ours had a shot on goal. Attempt after attempt, we started to find more space. One by one, we started converting our chances as well. Soon, the scoreboard read 4-0 and we were well on our way to the finals!

The team we faced in the final seemed to be a team filled with localites who knew the referees who also seemed to be localites. Paying no heed to that prior the match, we got into the field with a lot of confidence. We were the top scoring side of the tournament so far, we had most of the ball possession in every match we had played yet. Statistically, Nights Watch was destined to win Adidas Uprising.

As expected, we dominated proceedings from the start. A ball was played into me by Nishant, I looked up and spotted Karan making a run behind the defenders. I played a lofted through ball which landed perfectly for Karan, who faked a shot and deceived the goalie. The goalie dived and completely missed the ball. The ball I had played from close to my own goal had now turned into a goal for our team. However, almost instantly, we conceded. This shook us. Brushing that aside we pushed for more.

In a swift turn of events, they scored another and took the lead. Slowly, frustration started creeping in. Every player of the Nights Watch was nervous and desperate to win.

Rohan had committed himself to a tackle after which an opposition player kicked him on the thigh in the penalty area. As soon as this happened, I looked at the referee in hope he would blow for a penalty. Which he did! We had a chance to equalise! Jana, Karan and I got together in the middle of the pitch to discuss who would take the penalty. In the meanwhile, the opposition players spoke to the referee. The referee cancelled the penalty and made them continue the game, all while our team was discussing who should take the penalty. Next thing you know, it's 3-1. All of us were shell-shocked. The referee had stopped the game and pointed towards the penalty spot and had now suddenly changed his decision after a word with the opposition players.

Trophy cap will be gold next time.

We were now 3-1 down with very little time to go. Jana and I started making many runs and tried to belt in as many as we could. Sadly, nothing worked and they went on to win the tournament.

I jinxed it didn't I? :P

It was so sad. We knew we were the better side, but we also realized that a tad too much of confidence can also bring you down. The trophy and medal was beautiful, but silver has never been my number one preference, and this was a major let down.
On my way back home on the scooty, my mind was empty. I had nothing going through my head. There was a really gloomy mood when I entered home again that night. I wanted to win Adidas Uprising. I was so close to adding another gold to my collection but sometimes, things don't work out the way you want them to.

At the end of the day, I told myself that I won't rest until I have won this elusive tournament. So next year, whenever Adidas Uprising takes place again, I am going to be part of the winning side. And from the looks of it, the Nights Watch squad will just get better and appreciate in value.

Typical Jana.

I took back a lot with me. A few goals, a few assists, a reality check that we're still not the best we can be, a new sense of urgency to help me become the best and help my team cruise through any tournament.

Now that I look back, on the whole, it was a wonderful experience and I would love to cherish it as the Champions of Adidas Uprising.

In the words of Eric Thomas, "It is not over, until I win!"

Getting To Know Where I Stand Outside My Bubble

As I began to think of football as a career, side by side i knew that to achieve that goal I had to step out of my school and compete in the outside world. I had risen among the ranks of the football society in my area. I was recognized as an upcoming talent by my seniors. They told me to never stop playing. I have and always will adhere to that advice.

I used to score tons of goals everyday. I must admit it was a lot of fun. I started gaining the respect of my fellow players.However, i realized that this football dream of mine was heading nowhere. I had to burst this huge bubble of mine -wherein i was the best and the king of the field. I researched on how to develop as a footballer. I found many articles but I was too young to understand the importance of practicing by yourself.

 My mother used to work in an NGO called Akanksha. She had a colleague named Glen. He was in the sports  department of Akanksha. He had found out that selections for the Maharashtra state team for a cultural tournament were taking place in Cooperage. My mother called me up, informed me and told me to kit up. I reached Cooperage very late. I ran to the the chief selector, " very early you are " he said. I was embarrassed and just apologized. He gave me a bib and  asked for my position. Those days, i hadn't decided on a fixed position as i was versatile. I could play on the wings, in the center of the park or as a striker. He decided to play me on the wings. I received the ball, saw a player open and tried a Hollywood pass. Hollywood passes are long balls which are a lot like those dreamy, movie kinds, slow motion passes with pin point accuracy. Lucky me, it reached my designated target! Another instance was when i received the ball, I ran down the sideline dribbling every player in my way and provided an assist to a well converted goal. Later on the results for the first day were declared. I had cleared the first round!

Next day i was super confident due to my performance the day before. But i was at a disadvantage as all the players over there knew each other and the coaches. They didn't like me. You could tell by the nasty glares they were giving me. I knew that i had to get selected purely on merit. I was put in a team with unknown players. All the players kept talking about a player named Anas. He was in my team and i finally got the chance to see him play. He was not fit but still, really good. He had seen me playing yesterday and had told me that i was already selected. And i was a fool to believe him. I didn't play up to mark and wasn't selected. I was chosen for a last round of trials along with 11 others. I played in the center this time and could not put my mark on proceedings. I realized that I was weak and couldn't match up to the others in terms of strength and stamina.

Thus i found my weak points in strength and stamina. I worked really hard to build those two aspects of my game. I found out where i stood in the outside world and a valuable lesson that until it comes out in black and white, never believe anything anyone says. I had burst my safe bubble and had leapt into wilderness.

And my journey continued...................

My first step into the world of football.

It was the year 2010. I was in 7th standard. My class had their games period. I always had this dream of entering the inter school football scene. That for me was my ultimate goal, to get into my school football team.

I was in NCS (Navy Children School). I was just chatting with my friends and getting ready to play when our school physical training sir, Mr.Paresh walked up to us and told us that he was taking trials for the school team. Wearing school uniforms, black leather shoes and a tight belt, wonder how we played! Guess it was the adrenaline rush that helped. I must say, my class itself had  some amazing players. There was this guy called Himanshu. My my, he was the best at that time. His game was amazing. He could create chances out of nowhere, his passes were the most accurate, his shoots were good too and he was fast, really, really fast. It was mesmerizing to watch him play. And then there was me, a little kid . Compared to his my game was just, decent.

We began play. I had Himanshu in my team. Lucky me!!  I thought passing the ball around would get me in. So i did just that. As soon as I got the ball I would rotate the ball. In between the game Shrihari and Himanshu were called by Sir and their names were noted down. I found my chances dwindling as sir didn't call any more names. I have always had good shots. We received a corner and i decided to take it.  Sir was sitting under a tree which was just 5 feet away from the corner flag. I looked at him once, he gave this blank stare and then grinned. I took my run up and whacked that ball with all my might and it flew. No one could get a head to it and no one was expected to after all who was so gutsy at that time to head a ball ?! Paresh Sir just asked me for my name and like a cadet in NDA i did a perfect about turn and introduced myself. "Ankit Nagar. Class 7-B. Date Of Birth 07/09/19 " but i was cut short by him and was told to answer the question and stick to the question, always. Lesson learnt!! I was selected. I was the happiest person on the planet. I went home and jumped. My mom and Dad celebrated with me

 Practice started in two days. First day of practice, the coach was a pretty familiar face. I later realized he had coached me earlier. For some odd reason i felt he had a soft corner for me. I was made captain of the U-12 side. I went crazy. Next thing i know i was picking players, and to be honest i didn't know anyone. Who were these Navy Nagar chaps? I didn't know anyone at all so i picked Himanshu and asked him to pick the rest of the side for me. I got to know people like Shubham and Sharad who went on to be really good friends of mine.

We played and no one was listening to me. I was angry. At that age i used to start crying if i was upset. And that's what i did. Someone came and told me to stop. I looked up and saw this uncle in whites. Sudip Gangopadhyay was his name. He was instrumental  in me developing as a footballer and also as a person. I listened to him and went on to draw the game. He told me that I had to be stronger mentally and physically.And that was that, I was hell bent on improving.

 I was 12 that year and was selected to play in Arsenal Cup U-15. I was a substitute and rightfully so, I was playing with seniors who were really good. Sitting on the bench and looking at the others show their skills was an eye opener. I realized winning matches and scoring goals on the street with my batch mates meant nothing. We lost in the pre quarters. I got to play the second half of two games. I think i passed the ball twice. I had the number 8 jersey which was my favorite reason, my hero Steven Gerrard.

Arsenal Cup U-15 Number 8 jersey.

 I also played the Mahindra Youth Football Challenge the same year in the U-14 category. I was again on the bench. The team had the Kumar brothers. It's an honor to play alongside them, even today. Praful and Pranjal, both strong, fit, masters of the passes and shoots. It was a 60 minute game. I was brought on in the tenth minute. I got on and played on the right wing. As soon as i got the ball, i ran for my life with it  towards the goal. A player came in front, i nutmeged him and went straight. Another instance was when this player fouled me, took the ball and ran. I got up and sprinted behind him and slid. i got the ball but the player flew a few yards. I got up, went to the player, gave him a piece of my mind and walked of. Gango sir applauded.We lost in penalties.

Mahindra Youth Football Challenge U-14.

That kick started my love for the game. I did not study even a bit.Football took priority over my studies. I did improve but i knew there was a whole world of amazing footballers out there who were a thousand times better than me.

My journey had just begun................