Back "Home"

It's really amusing how life will take us right up there and escalate our happiness so very much and then in one swift ninja move, cuts you up and brings you down.
Now you would be thinking that ive got injured or been in an accident.

Not really . In fact, my flight back to India from Germany was excellent and extremely smooth. But the sad thing here is, I'm back "home." And whichever way I look at it, im not happy.

To be honest here, I felt right at home at DFI. The everyday routine, the football, the pitches, the food, the environment, no traffic, the coaches, the players, basically, a footballers life. And i was lucky enough to have lived it for a month and I am eternally grateful to my parents and Eric Sir. DFI, Germany will always be "home", regardless of where I go, or what I pursue because living a footballers life is something else. It's beautiful.

I landed and decided to test myself against my fellow countrymen. So i headed straight for practice, and wow. Like really, wow. I stood out, and that too, quite a lot. My game just had this extra piece of magic which i guess I really needed to compete at the highest level of Mumbai's football scene.

Now that I look at it. "Home" isn't the place where you have lived forever. It's where you are most comfortable and in love with.

"Home" is Deutsches Fussbal Internat, Bad Aibling, Germany.

DFI- Making My Mark.

First and foremost. Hope you have a brilliant 2016 ahead!

Germany seems like a distant memory now. It has been 6 months since I landed in India. And boy oh boy, do I miss it.

My Schedule. Find my name.

Carrying on from where I left off, my second week was much better because I had got adjusted to the surroundings, the climate and the physicality. I had finally started playing at a decent level. Not good, not satisfactory but decent. I remember this one training session with the U-23's where I played really well. I bossed the center of the park. I was going in for challenges, I was running constantly and making quick incisive passes. Even though I was being pushed around and thrown on the ground, I got back up and went for more. I had this hunger in me. This hunger to do well, to do my parents proud even though they didn't know what i was doing, to give it your all.

As I entered the third week, the coaches started noticing me and rightfully so. I was playing well and enjoying my football. Our bulletin board which had our schedule informed us that we would be playing a match in the next few days. India vs Germany. At first I thought it would be only us Indians against the U-23's. Later I found out that the German team was filled with coaches and the U-18's. Fortunately, our "India" team consisted of U-23 players from SA, China, Croatia, Peru, Russia and Germany.

What a sight!

The dressing room! Aaaahhh!

Before the game, we had visited the home of Bayern Munich, Germany and 1860 Munich., The Allianz Arena. The first stadium i went to didn't disappoint me. It was truly stunning. Right from the outside to the museum inside. The European Cups, Bundesliga shields and the DFB Pokals were just a mere 30 Cm from
me. Only glass separated us. My hopes of lifting them later in my life still lingers. The ground was brilliant,
 i really don't have words to describe how classy it was. To all the Bayern supporters, it is a must that you visit the home of the Bavarians at least once in your life. extend your bucket list.

Life Goals!

Have to watch a match here.

Moving back to matchday, there was a proper dressing room meeting with full kits and a team list and formations. Sadly, I was keeping the bench warm. I did feel a little embarrassed as the rest of my fellow Indians were playing. The first half was played, the score was
2-2.

Haslreiter sir then brought me on at half time. Surprisingly at left back. I had never played the position before. Next thing you know, I got the ball and I made a run from our defensive half to the final third and had a shot on goal. The solo run didn't pay off, but it boosted my confidence a lot, especially when the fellow foreigners started appreciating my effort. I went on to have two more shots on goal, one which nearly went in. In the end, I wasn't tired. I could have played a lot more, this fire had ignited. A little too late in the month, but nevertheless.

I had hit my peak form.

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."