Arunava about Football A look at football & the world through my eyes!
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A Chilly rainy evening at Shillong. Stage set for a nail-biting curtain call of the I-League 2016-17. Having conceded an early goal at the JLN Stadium, the Reds made a stunning comeback in the second half which saw William Lalnunfela netting probably the most significant goal in Indian Club Football History to snatch the coveted I-League trophy which kept eluding quite a few powerhouses of Indian Football until this date.
When everyone speaks highly of the heroics pulled off by certain sportspersons, Indians, always fell short of boasting of their own saga but only until the last day of April this year, when Aizawl FC, whose cumulative budget is well short of certain glamorous player’s salary, registered arguably the biggest upset story of Indian Sports, let alone Indian Football, having triumphed the I-League trophy.
If we go back to one year of Indian Football, we would find a club who were tottering at the bottom of the table at the end of the last season to be reprieved by the apex body to prove their worth and the results? Probably this decision would be tagged as the most crucial one in Indian Football history in years to come.
Aizawl FC’s newly appointed gaffer Khalid Jamil who was renowned for his exploits with a limited budget and reviving teams from the rock-bottom took the charge at the starting of the season.
A few days later, when results started coming in their way, everyone started believing on the tough Mumbai-based bloke who was nothing short of the Pied Piper of Hamelin in a new Avatar for the Mizoram-based club.
When their saga was started to be compared with Leicester City’s heroics, actually, everyone across the length and breadth of the country was busy placing bets on when the Highlanders will fall but until April 30, 2017 those critics kept waiting but the Reds scripted possibly the most underrated, most unflashy success story of Indian Football.
In the process, the Mizo outfit garnered 25 points out of possible 27 at their home Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, truly turning it to their ‘Fortress.’ Only defending Champion Bengaluru FC could settle with a draw there whereas every other team left the Mizo capital empty-handed including the Kolkata powerhouses Mohun Bagan and East Bengal.
Although the meagre budget and stiff off-the-field conditions thwarted their effort time and again, they couldn’t deter the inevitable. Even the Mariners who needed a win against debutants Chennai City FC in their last encounter which was running simultaneously on the final day of the League couldn’t spoil the party which was very much of Aizawl FC’s- a cumulative effort of Mizoram Football’s spontaneous effort and Aizawl FC’s terrible endeavour beyond their gamut.
Meanwhile, thanks to their I-League winning campaign, they’re now vying to be the first club from the subcontinent to compete in the AFC Champions League this season, the pinnacle competition of the continent.
Come January 30, another 90 minutes of fearless football against the Iranian club Zob Ahan might put them in the same boat along with Asia’s who’s who where no one from our country have been before, an enviable AFC Champions League final-round spot.
Who knows, last year’s league-winning campaign might not be a mere fairy tale but the unveiling of a genie who would continue to stun the World of Football time and again
