Sikkim soccer boys back from Munich with new tips

Gangtok, Aug. 23: Two budding football players from Sikkim have returned home after a training session in Germany, where they honed their soccer skills under the tutelage of Bayern Munich.

Ram Chettri and Suman Rai, both aged 14, could also witness a match between AC Milan and Bayern Munich during their trip. The two were among the six boys from India who were given training by the European football powerhouse.

All the six boys had flown to Munich on July 19 and returned to India on August 7. Ram and Suman arrived home last week after spending some days with Northeast football giant Lajong FC in Shillong. They are trainees at Boys’ Club Gangtok Football Academy.

“We had a training camp for 10 days and then spent the remaining days touring Munich. Although the training was of a short duration of two hours daily, it was hard. We learnt a lot of new techniques,” said Ram.

A midfielder, Ram learnt how to “distribute the ball to all parts of the pitch, set pieces and move up and down in support of forwards and defence”.

“The camp also taught us the way one should hold the ball, how to use the body to shield the ball and ‘off the ball’ movement. We gained new knowledge on tackling. Earlier, we used to panic but now we are confident that we can hold the ball and not allow rival players to snatch our ball,” said Ram.

Suman, who wants to become a striker, said: “I mastered dribbling skills at the camp. I know now how to cross the ball to other players in the attack zone and move down the pitch to help the defence in case of counterattack.”

The duo were given the training by the Bayern Munich coaches under the close observation of the club’s chief talent Hermann Hummels.

The other four budding talents who made it to the Munich camp were from Calcutta and Shillong. The six had been chosen from among 600 boys at a selection camp held in Calcutta last year.

The highlight of the German trip was the opportunity the Indian boys got to watch the semi-finals and the final of Audi Cup in Munich.

“We watched the semi-final between AC Milan and Bayern Munich and were ball boys for the second semi-final between Barcelona FC and Internacional. We also watched the final, which was won by Barcelona against Bayern Munich 2-0 on July 27,” said Ram.

Suman was happy that he could see his favourite players in action during the tournament. “We saw all our favourite players like David Villa, Andres Iniesta, Abidal and Barcelona captain Carles Puyol. Unfortunately, Lionel Messi did not appear for Barcelona. We saw Bayern Munich players like Arjen Robben, Thomas Mueller and Klose. We even saw Robino playing for AC Milan. It was unbelievable and we never thought that we could see players in action,” said Suman.

Both the boys have been undergoing training at Tathangchen ground here ever since the Boys Club was started by former footballers of Sikkim in 2008. They study in Class VIII in different schools in Gangtok.

The Telegraph