Flavio Lopes
flavio-@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: The three Goan players from the under-14 India team along with head coach Maymol Rocky landed in the State after being evacuated from earthquake hit Nepal at the Dabolim airport via New Delhi, on Monday morning. However, it was surprising to know that none of the officials from any of the sports body’s, especially the Goa Football Association were there to receive the quartet.
The team was only received by the parents of the three players Ashika Gadekar (Anjuna), Somaaya Mukundan (Margao and Sushmita Jadhav (Moira).
The Indian team were taking part in the Asian Football Confederation regional tournament in Nepal and were scheduled to play a third place play-off match against Iran at the Dasarath Stadium in Kathmandu, at 1 p.m., on Saturday, when tragedy struck an our early which killed several thousand people.
“The AIFF assured all that the team was safe and that they would be brought back to Delhi as soon as possible. I was following up and getting updates from AIFF official Indu Choudary and keeping the GFA president Elvis Gomes informed. The players were shaken but the presence of the parent of one of the girls helped,” stated GFA general secretary Jason Monserrate.
The Indian contingent consisted of 23-members, 18 players and five officials and much of the responsibility was shouldered by Maymol.
“We were in our dressing room and were about to leave for the field for warm-up when earthquake took everyone by surprise. All were scared including me but I took the responsibility to take the team to the centre of the football pitch, which was the safest place to be at that time,” stated Maymol, on Tuesday evening.
The match however did not continue although the organizers have postponed the fixture and is likely to take place. The Indian team were held at the centre of the pitch for about five to six hours along with the AFC officials, referees, Iran team and the locals who were present in the stands, over 4,000 people in total.
“The Stadium was cracked and the entrance gate was badly damaged although the field did not suffer any damage. The tremors were felt for over ten minutes as the playfield went up and down. There were four floodlights at the venue and we feared it would crash on us. All of us were screaming and crying,” stated the Sports Authority of Goa coach from Vasco.
With the wrath of nature continuing throughout the night, the Indian eves were prompted to stay outside of their rooms at Hotel View Bhrikuti in Kathmandu, on Saturday.
The Indian team flew back to the Nation on Sunday evening and landed in IGI Airport, New Delhi.
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) was constantly in touch with the Indian embassy present in Nepal and with the External Affairs Ministry to ensure that the U-14 girls get priority in extraction.
With the Tribhuvan International Airport shutting down, the Indian contingent sought the help of the Indian Armed Forces, who flew the girls back in a military plane. The Indian Embassy present in Nepal also helped.
“Our rooms in the seven floor hotel were at the fifth storey. I did not allow the players to enter the hotel. I along with some room boys sneaked in and managed to get hold of our passports and baggage. We were asked by the Indian Embassy to travel by bus and come to the aircraft on Saturday evening but we did not take the risk as there was no current on the route and decided to do the same the next morning,” Maymol added, who felt that prayers from the girl’s parents helped in bringing them home safely.
It was a challenging situation for the team which they tackled united. Learning from the experience, the Goan trio have already shown their desire to join the Goa under-15 team which are currently undergoing a camp at Duler Stadium, Mapusa ahead of the National to be held in May for which coach Maymol will be spotting the talent for the India under-16 team and will be most likely given the coaching responsibility.
