Boy who wants to dribble like Messi

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His neighbourhood eats, drinks and sleeps football and it was quite natural that young Lazim Ali started dribbling the soccer ball at a tender age.

Six years down the line, he is recognised as the most skillful player in the under-13 category in the whole of Asia.

Hailing from a soccer crazy locality in Kallai, Kozhikode, Lazim was instrumental, with his awe-inspiring passes and deceptive skill game, in the impressive campaign of India under-13 football team at the AFC football festival in Iran this year.

A Class IX student of St. Joseph’s Boys School, Kozhikode, Lazim learned the game in the Sports & Education Promotion Trust (SEPT). His first exposure to competitive football was playing in Kochi and Goa under the banner of SEPT at the age of seven.

The teenager, who confesses being a die-hard fan of EPL soccer team Arsenal and the mighty Barcelona, is inspired by the wizardry of Messi and Robin Van Persie. “I follow all their games on TV and would love to meet them some day,” says young Lazim.

Perhaps being an ardent follower of two of the game’s most skilled tacticians helps him excel as a playmaker. “I am a midfielder and that is the best place on the field. In the Indian team I was left winger, but I have played more in the central midfield,” he says.

It was the nurturing at SEPT that helped him evolve as a promising soccer player and he was fortunate to tour Malaysia as a 10-year-old. “The experience there was amazing, they have beautiful grounds and very skilled footballers,” says Lazim.

It was his fabulous play in the under-13 football festival played in Thirunelveli earlier this year that paved way for his entry to the national side. He had top scored with 18 goals for his home State and also helped in plenty other assists.

Lazim is the youngest of the three children of Mohammad Ali and Arifa. His brother Mohammed Jaseem and Nafla are proud about their little brother, about whom the whole neighbourhood talks with great pride.

Like Pele said, ‘Everything is practice’ and Lazim knows it quite well. He has made it a routine to get to the Farook College Ground for training in the evenings.

Where do you like to play when you are a senior player?

The soccer kid thinks for a while and then says, “I would love to play for India, but it is also my dream to play in a professional club in Europe like Van Persie and Messi.”