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Bhubaneswar, August 24
Defying all odds, Chandan Nayak, an 11-year-old slum boy, today flew out to the prestigious Bayern Munich football club in Germany to attend a two-month training programme. Chandan, who lives in a slum here with his mother, was picked for the training programme after he cleared all the selection trials. Incidentally, the trials were for the boys in the age-group of 14 to 16 but Chandan impressed the selectors with his skills and was picked ahead of the older boys.
“I had lost all hope to visit Germany as I was facing problem in getting a visa. Finally, I got it from Kolkata,” Chandan, a student of class VII, said before boarding a flight to Mumbai.
“I spotted Chandan while imparting free football training to the slum boys of Bhubaneswar. I found his skills with the ball magical,” said Chandan’s coach Jaydev Mohapatra. “The boy finally got a ticket to Germany. We are extremely happy. He will bring laurels to the country,” he said.
He said Chandan cleared all levels of the trials to get this chance and Sunil Chettri, the chief selector at the Pune selection camp, was impressed with his skills.
“As the trials were for the boys aged 14-16, Chandan was not allowed to participate initially. But we requested them to give him a chance and Chandan surprised everyone with his passing and dribbling skills,” said Mohapatra.
The coach said Chandan would be among 120 children from across the world to get training in Germany. “Chandan is a source of inspiration for slum kids who play football,” he said.
“We are poor. We do not have a television set at home. But my son is a big fan of Messi. He has purchased a jersey with Messi’s name written on it. I will be happy if he plays for the country in the future,” said Chandan’s mother. — PTI
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