Harizan practicing at Bangalore camp
Kolkata:
Scottish goal for Salt Lake boys
- Sweepers' sons set sights on Celtic FC
Bishal Harizan, 13, had not set foot outside Bengal till March this year but he could well be on his way to the 124-year-old Celtic Football Club to train later this year, as could some others from the little-known Salt Lake school he attends.
In the midst of all the cricket craze, a band of boys from the Sukanta Nagar Vidya Niketan in Sector IV Salt Lake has quietly won 12 football matches on the trot and zeroed in on a ticket to Glasgow.
A good showing in a trial match on Wednesday could give four boys in Bishal's gang of 11 a passport to the football club that was the first British team to win the European Cup (in 1957) and which finished second in the Scottish league of 2009-10.
"I have been able to score consistently in recent matches but I am quite nervous about tomorrow's match. A good performance should ensure selection," said Bishal, the son of a sweeper who is a keen follower of Lionel Messi.
"I was mesmerised by Messi in the Champions League last week. I dream of playing like him and the Celtic camp could help me learn some techniques that I will keep practising on my own."
The good news for Bishal and the boys is that the organisers of the tournament they triumphed in have tied up with Celtic FC and coaches from the Scottish club's youth academy are currently training 22 boys from six cities on the basis of their performances. Eleven of them are from the Salt Lake school.
"Among these 22, two to four players will be picked for training in Celtic FC later in the year. All the boys look promising and among them three from Calcutta are in serious contention," Stephen Frail, head coach of the Celtic FC Youth Academy, told Metro from Bangalore, where the coaching camp is on.
"We (will) make the final selection tomorrow (Wednesday)," he added.
Frail said the selected players would not only undergo training sessions, "the same as players who come for trial at Celtic undergo" at the Scottish club, but also play matches with teams in the similar age group. Plus, watch matches of the Celtic senior team "to give them true exposure to international-standard games".
For a go at Glasgow, the city boys had to put up a good show in the national-level tournament, the Mahindra Youth Football Inter-city. The team comprising the likes of Bishal, who found the net twice in the final against the Government Sports School, Bangalore and midfielder and skipper Bikash Mallick, won six knockout matches against city schools in March to qualify for the final leg in Bangalore. There they won another six knockout matches to lift the trophy.
For Bikash and Bishal, both Barcelona fans, the training under Greig Robertson, Celtic's youth academy coach, Ian Coll, the head of sports science, and Robert Glen, the goalkeeping coach, has been one huge kick.
"We are training for four hours (8.30am to 10.30am and 4pm to 6pm) every day. We are picking up new skills every day. I have learnt some dribbles and step-overs that I am dying to try out in a match," said Bishal.
He will have an opportunity to do just that on Wednesday when the 22 boys will be split into two teams for a final look before the selections for Celtic.
"Boys like Bikash and Bishal are extremely talented but very poor, the fathers of being sweepers. This is a great opportunity for them," said Uttam Ghosh, who has been coaching the Sukanta Nagar school since 2001.
- Sweepers' sons set sights on Celtic FC
Bishal Harizan, 13, had not set foot outside Bengal till March this year but he could well be on his way to the 124-year-old Celtic Football Club to train later this year, as could some others from the little-known Salt Lake school he attends.
In the midst of all the cricket craze, a band of boys from the Sukanta Nagar Vidya Niketan in Sector IV Salt Lake has quietly won 12 football matches on the trot and zeroed in on a ticket to Glasgow.
A good showing in a trial match on Wednesday could give four boys in Bishal's gang of 11 a passport to the football club that was the first British team to win the European Cup (in 1957) and which finished second in the Scottish league of 2009-10.
"I have been able to score consistently in recent matches but I am quite nervous about tomorrow's match. A good performance should ensure selection," said Bishal, the son of a sweeper who is a keen follower of Lionel Messi.
"I was mesmerised by Messi in the Champions League last week. I dream of playing like him and the Celtic camp could help me learn some techniques that I will keep practising on my own."
The good news for Bishal and the boys is that the organisers of the tournament they triumphed in have tied up with Celtic FC and coaches from the Scottish club's youth academy are currently training 22 boys from six cities on the basis of their performances. Eleven of them are from the Salt Lake school.
"Among these 22, two to four players will be picked for training in Celtic FC later in the year. All the boys look promising and among them three from Calcutta are in serious contention," Stephen Frail, head coach of the Celtic FC Youth Academy, told Metro from Bangalore, where the coaching camp is on.
"We (will) make the final selection tomorrow (Wednesday)," he added.
Frail said the selected players would not only undergo training sessions, "the same as players who come for trial at Celtic undergo" at the Scottish club, but also play matches with teams in the similar age group. Plus, watch matches of the Celtic senior team "to give them true exposure to international-standard games".
For a go at Glasgow, the city boys had to put up a good show in the national-level tournament, the Mahindra Youth Football Inter-city. The team comprising the likes of Bishal, who found the net twice in the final against the Government Sports School, Bangalore and midfielder and skipper Bikash Mallick, won six knockout matches against city schools in March to qualify for the final leg in Bangalore. There they won another six knockout matches to lift the trophy.
For Bikash and Bishal, both Barcelona fans, the training under Greig Robertson, Celtic's youth academy coach, Ian Coll, the head of sports science, and Robert Glen, the goalkeeping coach, has been one huge kick.
"We are training for four hours (8.30am to 10.30am and 4pm to 6pm) every day. We are picking up new skills every day. I have learnt some dribbles and step-overs that I am dying to try out in a match," said Bishal.
He will have an opportunity to do just that on Wednesday when the 22 boys will be split into two teams for a final look before the selections for Celtic.
"Boys like Bikash and Bishal are extremely talented but very poor, the fathers of being sweepers. This is a great opportunity for them," said Uttam Ghosh, who has been coaching the Sukanta Nagar school since 2001.
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