Football. My second favourite F-word
The sixth game of the tournament on the sixth of October was an enthralling show, filled with élan. The 1st years sported against the 4th years, and the game concluded in a 1-1 draw.
The onset saw some smooth manoeuvres being pulled off by 4th years Joseph George and Adithya Haneef, matched equally by 1st years Sherwin Rodriguez and John Sabu Mathew, each player teasing the opponent into the game. Monish Balraj, assisted by Joseph and Rakesh Prasad, charged aggressively, and were ably countered by Baladitya B, Sharath SM and Pritam Malakar on the defense. The ball often flew outside. Ten minutes into the game, Nityanshu Sengar, taking advantage of the weak defense present, swiftly scored a goal against the 1st years.
The match became more thrilling in the second half; John and Adithya, challenging each other’s presence, danced with the ball, dodging, darting across the field. Even as Nityanshu and Aiswarya Aanand tried to corner him, John tackled comfortably and passed the ball on to Suraj Unnikrishnan Menon, albeit forcefully. His animated batchmates in the audience cheered at full volume for him as well as for Indu, who played spiritedly. Haridhar Khimavath proved yet another tough contender for the freshers’ batch, endeavouring to possess the ball. Numerous close shots were managed by both sides, but goalkeepers Biyas Muhammed and Suryanarayana Panicker stood like walls, unfazed. Sreesankar and John lead an offensive consecutively from opposite sides, but Biyas was not one to relent easily. Soon, Suraj came gliding towards the goalpost, aimed and shot deftly for the far post, but the ball deflected towards the near post and in it went.
This drawn match secured the first years the top position in their group; even as both teams have paved their way into the semi-finals,which they must now gear up for. Which player performed the best, in our opinion? When asked the same, German footballer İlkay Gündoğan, who had clearly been rehearsing with Nürnberg’s public relations team, replied:
“The team was the best player on the pitch.”
Report by Jayat Joshi
Article 19 