The 19th edition of Arsenal International Soccer Festival in which the much-hyped Tata Tea Jaago Re Soccer Stars represented India in the Under-15 age category concluded last week. The team was selected from an All-India soccer tournament played across four zones and ten cities for school students aged 10-15. Kerala’s P Sameel, who has previously represented the Indian U-14 team, was also a member of the team that played at the festival.
Teams from all over the world have taken part in the festival over the years. This year teams from USA, Canada, South Africa, Spain, Egypt, Greece, Bahrain, India, Ireland & Italy amongst others, traveling to play teams from a dozen English County associations. The Festival took place on the award winning fields of Royal Holloway University in picturesque Surrey from July 25th to August 2nd 2009.
In the Under-15 category, the Tata Tea team was placed in Group B alongside Calgary Blizzards (Canada), Eldon Celtic Lions (Berkshire, UK), Actual Soccer (Middlesex, UK) and Watling Club (Middlesex, UK). All matches were played from the afternoons and evenings of the weekdays, and all day at weekends.
The team from India began their campaign with a 2-0 loss to boys from Eldon. In their second match against Calgary, despite dominating the proceedings, they were held to a 0-0 draw by the team from Canada. In their third match against Actual Soccer, the Tata Tea team exhibited great skills and attacking football to win 5-0. Actual Soccer, which eventually went on to the finals of the plate competition before loosing in penalties, was quite surprised by the flair with which the Tata Tea team played.
The final match in the group for the team was against Watling Club (the eventual winners of the 2009 edition). Facing a must win situation, the team from India played their heart out only to be nipped by a solitary goal. They finished 3rd in their group and hence had to content playing in the plate competition.
The disheartened Tata Tea team lost 3-0 to Burnham Juniors (Bucks, UK) in the semifinals of the plate competition and Burnham went on to win the plate competition.
This is what the official from Tata Tea who accompanied the team had to say - “It has been 2 years in a row that I have come back to the festival and I must say that it is indeed a wonderful experience for everyone associated with the soccer festival. The staff of Golden West Sports are extremely helpful and fun loving and are always ready to help anyone in need. The boys had a wonderful time in England especially at the Emirates Cup. On behalf of TATA Tea Jaago Re Soccer Stars, I would like to thank the organizers for a fantastic week of fun and football and we do look forward to coming back again next year”.
P Sameel, the No. 8, played a crucial role for the team during the competition and was also on the score sheet for Tata Tea in the match against Actual Soccer. In addition to the experience gained from the festival, he also got the opportunity to be at the Emirates Stadium during the Emirates Cup and watch a couple of top quality matches, i.e., Athletico Madrid vs. Celtic and Arsenal vs. Rangers.
The player who hails from Malapuram returned to India on 4th August along with the other members of the team. As life returns to normal for Sameel, the youngster who is comfortable playing both as a center-half and as a defender is definitely someone worth keeping an eye on for the future.
Jason Morais for FootballKerala.com.
Photo Source: www.jaagoresoccerstars.com
From the archive. First published on footballkerala.com on Thursday 13 August 2009, restored from the site's 2012 database. Text as originally published.