As Mahindra United football club announced their closure, it was heartbreak for its U-19 players too
As Mahindra United football club announced their closure, it was heartbreak for its U-19 players too. The team had qualified for next season's MDFA Elite division by virtue of their 3-2 win over Maharashtra State Police last week and the players were looking forward to their 'big break'.
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He said that it was a 'dream shattered' as it leaves them without a club for the next season. "We will go for trials after June wherever we can. We really don't have a choice as of now," Kamath added.
His teammate and goalkeeper, Asif Ansari, who seemed totally dejected said, "I never thought things would come to this. Fate has been too cruel on us."
According to these youngsters, the only ray of hope is from their coach Santosh Kashyap.u00a0 "The move is a big blow for the players. Now many would also have to move out of Mumbai. How many players can the other two clubs in the city absorb?", asked Santosh.
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Santosh is trying to convince the Mahindra management to retain the youth sides as they plan to 'support football by concentrating on building the sport at the grassroots and community level'.u00a0 "I am going to talk to the management to keep the junior sides but at the end of the day, the decision is theirs," he said.
"If you have one-off tournaments for the youth it doesn't help building players. You need to groom a player for at least three to four years. There have been so many examples of players who have graduated from our youth teams to the senior side," Santosh reasoned.
But according to midfielder, Shadab Rizvi, "These promises work to comfort us temporarily. There is only one per cent chance of this actually happening."
On being asked what lies ahead for them, the youngster said, "We haven't planned anything as of now. We stillu00a0 have a few matches of the junior I-League to go. We will try to give our best in those games to catch the eyes of the clubs."
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