Rising stars in football
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Jijo and Rahul don’t have passports, but have rightfully earned their visas to Manchester in England. The two Thiruvananthapuram boys, along with Afsal from Malappuram, were among the final 12 kids selected as part of Airtel Rising Stars programme in Bengaluru.
The three Kerala boys impressed at a five-day final selection camp supervised by former England captain and United legend Bryan Robson. They are now all set for a week-long training at the famous Manchester United Soccer School.
Jijo is 15, a student of St. Joseph’s High School while Rahul, a year older, trains at G.V. Raja Sports School. Apparently, both their parents are daily wage workers and weren’t prepared for this overnight popularity.
As Rahul’s father Maniyan would say: “My wife Molly, daughter Reshma and I are really excited. The first thing I want to do when he reaches home from Bengaluru is to take him to a passport office. Arrangements have to be made.”
The enthusiasm is no less in the families of Jijo in the capital and Afsal’s at Pandikkadu in Malappuram.
The 16-year-old Afsal was also State under-17 second best player in a talent hunt organised by Bayern Munich last month.
There were 52 kids put through the paces for five days at the camp, which was also managed by Manchester United coaches Michael McClean, Mick Bennett, Andrew Cunningham and Kevin O’Connell.
“It is amazing to see that the selected 12 had lifted themselves up at every point in the training,” said head coach Kevin.
“The passion for football is rising in India day by day and we want to be a part of it. Our mission is to establish a long-term relationship with Indian football keeping Mumbai as our base,” said Mick Bennett.
Four boys have been selected as standbys in case of any injury or illness to any of the selected players. They are Mohammed Shafi (GK) (Kozhikode), Jordan Fernandes (Pune), Akeraj Martins, Joel Fernandes (Goa)
The selected 12 are Mukul Mohindra (GK), Kartikeya Swarup (New Delhi), Russel Lyndoh, Remitri Thama (Shillong), Ashish Sharma, Porus F. Shroff (Mumbai), Jijo, Rahul (Thiruvananthapuram), Afsal (Kozhikode), Krishanu Santra (Kolkata), Teja Pawan Kumar (Hyderabad) and Rushabh Dhere (Pune).
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