Soccer in Manipur growing in stature

Soccer in Manipur growing in stature
K Ramesh Mathew

CHALAKUDY, MARCH 29: The small state in the North-East has come a long way since the days of Narendra Gurung, the Gorkha who turned Border Security Force, Jalandhar, into a formidable team during his playing days in the late '70s and early '80s. Now, Manipur is treated on par with the soccer-loving States like Kerala, Goa and Bengal.

And the team management too believes so. ``It doesn't matter even if we do not make a mark this time. Our target is the 2002 Santosh Trophy, which has has already been allotted to us. By that time, this boys would have matured into a full-fledged outfit,'' reasoned team manager Ratnakumar Singh.

The organisers of this Santosh Trophy must have certainly heaved a sigh of relief when young midfielder Narendra Singh returned a goal for Manipur after his team trailed by one at the interval against Bihar in a cluster-2 match. And the spectators were on their feet when Manipur fetched the equaliser.

Probably, Manipur's exit at an early stage might have taken a heavy toll on the championship's already dwindling revenue from the gate collections. And when Narendra struck his team's winning goal, the entire stadium burst into cheers.

``It is true that at the sub-junior and junior levels we produce good results. After that we don't rise to the expectations of our fans,'' admitted team official Ranjit Singh. ``The problem is not that of our players. Since we don't have much job opportunities back home, our boys are forced to move out of the State. And a good number of them stop playing after moving out.''

Their first choice is Bengal clubs. Mumbai teams too are in their priority list and the left-overs end up representing teams like BSF and Army outfits.

At the moment, over 50 Manipuri players are representing various outstation teams. A good number of them are in Calcutta and Mumbai.

``Lolendra Singh, James Singh (both Mohun Bagan), Renedy Singh, Bijen Singh (East Bengal), Dharamjith Singh (Salgaocar), Khambition Singh (Air-India), Somatai Saiza (Churchill Brothers), Kiron Khongsai Suramani Singh, Gunabir Singh and Moni Thombi Singh are some of the leading names from our State,'' pointed out Ratankumar Singh with a sense of pride.

``Already, Narendra has been signed by Mahindras and main Calcutta clubs are eyeing some of our key players. They are free to go anywhere they like to.''

On Tuesday, Salgaocar manager Leo Fernandes, accompanied by former international Savio Medeira, was at the venue to watch Manipur in action and they seemed to be impressed by Manipur's approach to the game.

The Manipur team officials too had a word of praise for Chalakudy fans. ``They know who plays the better game. It was their vociferous support that made our players go all out for the winning goal, though we would have qualified for the next stage even with a draw,'' noted one of them.