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."