Manipur Breeding Ground of Top Footballers

Six Manipuri footballers in India squad:

New Delhi: Renedy, Surkumar and Gouramangi Singh have become vital cogs in the Indian football team but the Manipuri trio feel that they were lucky to get the break at a young age in big clubs of Kolkata, Goa and Mumbai.
All three hail from nondescript places in Manipur but thanks to age group tournaments and TFA talent scouting they rose to become key members of the Indian team which booked an 2011 Asian Cup berth after winning the AFC Challenge Cup.
"Six Manipuris were in India's AFC Challenge Cup squad of 23 and lots of Manipuris are playing in other top clubs of the country. But in absence of corporate sector to sponsor clubs in Manipur, you have to play outside the state to get noticed. The passion for football and chance spotting by talent scouts had taken me this far," said Renedy, the seniormost India player after captain Baichung Bhutia.
Born at a football family at Sekmai near state capital Imphal, Renedy tried his luck at the U-12 National Talent Search tournament in 1989 where he caught the eyes of TFA talent scouts which changed the course of his life.
"I was a bit lucky to have got the breakthrough at a young age without much difficulty. I owe my success to TFA in a big way," said the 29-year-old, the first Manipuri who played regularly for India.
He spent six years from 1990 at TFA and got the break in a big club when he joined Mohun Bagan in 1996 as a 17-year-old before spending three years from 1997 with East Bengal. He debuted for India senior team at the age of 20 in the Asian Cup qualifiers in 1999 against UAE.
India right back Surkumar's tryst with stardom began at 14 when he was scouted by TFA after a national U-16 tournament in Allahabad in 1997 and he confessed he was initially not considered a good prospect in Jamshedpur.
He spent three years at TFA before joining East Bengal in 2000. He returned to the same club in 2003 and is playing for the club since last season. In between he was with Mahindra United of Mumbai for five years and debuted for India in the World Cup qualifiers against UAE in 2001 when he was just 18.
"My uncle was instrumental for my making it to state squad for U-16 Nationals in Allahabad and there TFA scouts spotted me," said the 25-year-old Manipuri from Khurkhul near Imphal.
Surkumar now feels that youth of the country can now take up football as a career with the players getting good salary these days.
"A footballer's career is short no doubt, but with 35-40 lakh salary a year we can also have a career. Some other footballers are getting more than this," he said.
Young India central defender Gouramangi Singh, who hails from the same place as Renedy, was picked by a TFA talent scout team in 2000 when he was just 14 years of age.
From TFA, he went to Dempo in 2004 where he spent one year and was with Mahindra in 2005 and with Churchill Brothers since 2006-07. He debuted for India as substitute against Indonesia in 2003 in a friendly match.
Gouramangi was not a India regular for a couple of years and he shot into limelight in the Nehru Cup last year and in the recent AFC Challenge Cup with he and Anwar doing a fantastic job at the backline in the absence of seniors Mahesh Gawli and Deepak Mondal.
"If you are in TFA and you have the talent you can make it big. It happened to me and I am indebted to TFA for my achievements," said Gouramangi who is now 22.
Having tasted success, the youngster now wants to play abroad if any such offer comes, an idea coach Bob Houghton had been encouraging his charges.
"The Asian Cup in 2011 would be a big stage, we will be watched by the agents of top clubs of Asia and I will be game to join one of them if offered though I have to take advice of seniors," said Gouramangi, the youngest of the trio.
All the three have one more common thing -- they spoke highly of coach Bob Houghton.
"I have been in Indian team for nearly ten years and played under different coaches but he is the best. Frankly, many a times I don't want to go for training for my clubs but not for a single day I had not felt like that under Bob," Renedy said.

Source: Press Trust of India (PTI)

SAFF Cup football

Five northeastern players in India squad:
Baichung Bhutia, Potsangbam Renedy Singh, Bungo Singh, Moirangthem Gouramangi Singh and Sushil Kumar Singh were named in the India squad for the SAFF Cup football championship in Maldives and Sri Lanka to b eheld from June 3-14.
Regular India defender Surkumar Singh, who injured himself in India's second friendly against Chinese Taipei on May 27 in Chennai, had to miss out.
The Squad:
Goalkeepers: K Subrata Paul, Subhashish Roy Chowdhary. Defenders: Mahesh Gawli, Gouramangi Singh, Deepak Mondal, N S Manju, Anwar Ali, Sameer Naik. Midfielders: Steven Dias, Climax Lawrence, N P Pradeep, Bungo Singh, Mehrajuddin Wadoo, Renedy Singh, KuttimaniForwards: Baichung Bhutia (Capt), Sunil Chhetri, Manjit Singh, Abhishek Yadav, Sushil Kumar Singh

62nd Santosh Trophy

International stars from North East to miss action:

Seven international footballers from the north east, including three regular India senior players, will not take part in the Santosh Trophy in Jammu and Kashmir (May 25-JUne 15).

Renedy Singh, Surkumar Singh, Gouramangi Singh, Sushil Kumar, Bungo Singh, Govin Moirangthem (all from Manipur) and Nirmal Chhetri (from Sikkim) are in the Indian team which is playing two friendly games against Chinese Taipei (May 24 and May 27) in preparation of the SAFF Championship in Maldives and Sri Lanka.

Three others Robert Lalthampuana (Mizoram), Chandam Chitrasen (Manipur) and Naoba Singh (Manipur) were also included in the pre-national football coaching camp in Goa but later left out of the main camp.

Lalthampuana will lead Mizoram in the national championship, Naoba Singh is in the Assam Squad while Chitrasen will not play for Manipur.

Sikkim's Ashish Chhetri and Bigendra Rai will also miss the championship due to national camp for the AFC Under under 16 tournament in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from October 4-8.

Some north east players in the big clubs of the country will, however, be seen action. They include Dharamjit Singh (Mohun Bagan), L. James Singh (Mohun Bagan), Bijen Singh (Mohammedan Sporting), Uttam Singh (Air India) and Lalit Thapa (Churchill Brothers) of Manipur, Pachau Lalawmpuia (Mohun Bagan), Henry Gangte (Mohun Bagan), Lalramluaha (Mohun Bagan), Khanthang Paite (Churchill Brothers), Lalhlimthara (JCT), F. Lalrozama (Pune FC), F. Lalmuanpuia (ONGC, Mumbai), JeJe Lalpekhlua (Pune FC), Malsawmdawngliana (Amity United, Haryana) and Buangpuia Ralte (New Delhi Heroes) of Mizoram, Bilifung Narzary (ONGC, Mumbai) and Marcus Basumatary (Salgaocar) of Assam and Sanju Pradhan (Air India) of Sikkim.

Opinion Piece

Manipur should be allowed to play as state team in I-League:
The All India Football Federation has decided that the second edition of the I-League will consist of only 12 teams and matches will be played only on weekends from mid-September till March 2009. I-League means India league but sadly the 12 teams represent just four states in India. Eleven of the clubs come from just three states.
There are four from Bengal — Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and the newly promoted Mohammedan Sporting and Chirag United. Goa also has four teams, holders Dempo, runners-up Churchill Brothers, Sporting Clube de Goa and promoted Vasco. The trio from Mumbai are Mahindra United, Air India and 2nd division champions, newly formed Mumbai FC. The 12th team in the fray is north India’s lone representative, JCT.
So the I-League is not really representative of Indian football, as it involves people of only a few cities, barely 10 per cent of India’s estimated population of 1.2 billion. Instead it reflects the fact that club football in India has so far developed only in three states. There are no easy solutions. Promotion of more teams will only make the I-League more lop-sided, as there will be more representatives from Bengal and Goa.
Current Indian captain Baichung Bhutia’s remedy is that states like Manipur and Kerala where the game is popular but lack a tradition of club football should be allowed to play as state teams. Baichung cites the example of Malaysia where state teams like Perak and Selangor feature in the Malaysian league. Of course if Manipur play as a state team it could create a quandary for several of their internationals Surkumar Singh and Renedy Singh who play for East Bengal or Gourmangi Singh (Churchill Brothers).
Baichung’s idea is meritorious as in this way the I-League will be more representative. Both Kerala and Manipur are beneficiaries of the Vision Asia programme and are vigorously promoting football amongst the youth. The state teams of Kerala and Manipur have invariably excelled in the Santosh Trophy as they play with great pride. Another important factor is that both these teams receive massive support in other states also from migrant Keralites and Manipuris. This was evident when the Santosh Trophy was held in Delhi in 2004 and Gurgaon in 2006. Kerala and Manipur received the maximum support.
The I-League is modeled on the J-League in Japan. But in Japan, football has spread all over the country. The J-League first started in 1992 with 10 teams just like the I-League. However the ten teams as can been from the list are from nine different cities, Kashima Antlers, Urawa Red Diamonds, JEF United Ichihara, Verdy Kawasaki, Yokohama Marinos, Yokohama Flügels, Shimizu S-Pulse, Nagoya Grampus Eight, Gamba Osaka, and Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Only Yokohama had two representatives.
The 15th edition of the J-league in 2007 had 18 clubs and they represented 17 different cities, each with their own stadiums. Japan succeeded in spreading the game all over the country because of their visionary approach. The J-League encouraged clubs to promote football or non-football related sports to acquire local sponsorships, and to build good relationship.

This article was written by noted football commentator Novy Kapadia