The six young footballers from the city who represented the country in the ‘Football for Hope’ festival are back after playing the sport in the host country of the FIFA World Cup 2014.
Besides the thrill of playing football in the world-class stadiums of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, it was a rich cultural experience for the team of three boys and three girls, who learnt new techniques and termed their trip as “an unforgettable experience.”
The young team, all of whose members hail from weak socio-economic backgrounds, were handpicked from their schools for training by the NGO, ‘Dream A Dream’, and were chosen among various teams across the country to represent India at the festival.
“It was the first time I travelled in a plane . We made many new friends from across the globe with whom we continue to keep in touch through online forums. The only issue at times was the food because we had not tasted such dishes before,” said Pallavi S., adding that “she didn’t have the heart to leave Brazil after such a wonderful experience”.
The team played seven matches during the festival of which they won their first match against the Portugal team. While the team only secured 9 points out of 21 for their match points, they scored high on the fairplay category, securing 20 out of 21 points. They won three matches in the mixed matches category, where the team players of 32 different countries were shuffled.
But the team’s ‘dream-come-true’ moment was when they witnessed the quarterfinal between France and Germany .
Revanna, the team leader from ‘Dream A Dream,’ said that one of the highlights for him was to display the Indian flag during the opening ceremony of the festival which moved him to tears. “To hold up our flag on such a huge platform was really a great feeling. We were standing right behind Ronaldo (the famous Portugese player) during the ceremony and I did not even dream I would be seeing such players,” he said.
The Indian team also staged a skit during the festival, showcasing the cultural values of Indian heritage and showed off their ethnic wardrobe as they danced to the national song ‘Vande Mataram.’
