Meet Donadoni of Kochi

Could there be a football fan who does not remember Donadoni, Baggio and Samorano? And what if you find all three in a Kochi family? Meet K S Donadoni, his younger brother Baggio and their little cousin K J Samorano who live on four cents of land in a mangrove burrough at Nettoor on the outskirts of the city. True to their names, all three aspire to grow up into famous footballers.

Twelve-year-old Donadoni, a Class VIII student of Sacred Heart High School, Thevara, has already taken the first step towards realising his dream. He is currently representing the Ernakulam team in the Vision India Project’s under-13 state school league being held at the Maharaja’s College stadium.

Dona, as he is fondly called, has been training for the past one year at the Sacred Heart College ground under the Asian Football Confederation’s Vision India programme.

"I was picked for Vision India after a selection trial conducted at St Mary’s UP School, Thevara, where I studied till Class VII," he says.

A Class III student of St Mary’s, seven-year-old Baggio too wants to follow in his brother’s footsteps. "I want to be a forward who scores a lot of goals," says ‘Pachi’.

Aged just five, Samorano causes no small headache to his mother Lini kicking a plastic ball around in the house. "I will also become a footballer,’’ avers the UKG student of St John’s LP School, Konthuruthi.

The trio was named after these illustrious World Cup stars by Samoro’s father K N Joshi, an avid fan of the game.

A big supporter of Italy, Joshi was awestruck by the talented Azzury team of the 1990 World Cup that had stars like Roberto Donadoni, Roberto Baggio, Franco Baresi and Paulo Maldini. So he chose the names for his elder brother’s children.

Brother Snehajan agreed despite reservations by others in the family. "I agreed on one condition.

He should name his children in a similar style," says a jovial Snehajan.

"I had decided that if I had a son, I would make him a footballer,’’ concedes Joshi, who named his son after the Chilean maestro Ivan Samorano.

"The children have been in love with football since the time they started running around," says ‘mentor’ Joshi, who works as a plumber, as does his brother. The humble family has high hopes of these apples of their eyes who are good in studies as well. Dona and Pachi score 'A's in most of their exams.

"It is their desire to play football.

So be it," says Snehajan. "All our hopes rest on our children," echoes the Italians’ mother Shaila, who works as a housemaid.

For their grandmother, it does not matter what profession they choose for themselves. "The important thing is they grow into good individuals and become successful in their lives," says Bhanumathi Natesan whose late husband had served in the Second World War in Kashmir.

The ‘legends’ watch all possible matches on television with Joshi.

Brazil is Donadoni’s favourite team and Ronaldo and Ronaldinho his dearest stars. "It is fun to watch their passing game," Dona says of the Brazilians. Among clubs, Chelsea is his favourite and he dreams of playing in a team of that stature one day. "I want to be an international player," he says. At the Blues, he favours Ivorian Didier Drogba.

"He is fast and has great skills," he beams.

Baggio loves Wayne Rooney of Manchester United. "He scores goals," he says.

The two know who they are named after and are comfortable with it. "I like football as my name is that of a footballer. I saw Roberto Donadoni on television during Euro 2008 where he was the coach of Italy," says Kochi's Donadoni.

Baggio has seen his namesake’s pictures. "He is handsome, but looks old," says ‘Pachi’.

Little Samoro has only one name on his tongue. "Maradona," he says and crashes his ball into the wall.

Source: Express News

From the archive. First published on footballkerala.com on Monday 18 May 2009, restored from the site's 2012 database. Text as originally published.