Margao:

Goa’s relationship with Indian football has been uneasy for a while.The perceived injustice against Goa’s I-League clubs while drafting the “way forward” has only aggravated Goa’s relationship with the All India Football Federation ( AIFF ) and it hasn’t really helped that the team for the AFC Under-16 Championship – besides, of course, the 2017 Under-17 World Cup – doesn’t have any Goan player.Coach Nicolai Adam and his assistant Etibar Ibrahimov, it must be put on record, travelled across the length and breadth of the country scouting for the best players India could offer but nobody from Goa did enough to catch their eye.When India took the field for the AFC U-16 Championship against United Arab Emirates (UAE), there were too few people cheering. Lack of publicity was a factor but the players, in the end, managed to do what the boardroom and AIFF couldn’t. With a strong showing against UAE, they won several hearts and soon word spread around that the Indian team were as good as anybody else. The result: a record-attendance against Saudi Arabia, even though 4,137 spectators were not good enough to fill even one stand at the 19,000 capacity stadium.The organizers, however, need not worry. Word everywhere is that there could be plenty more cheering for India against Iran as Goans prepare to throw their weight behind the youngsters on Wednesday.“I am going to ensure that everyone around me knows about the match against Iran. The Indian team has won our hearts with a scintillating performance and they deserve our best support,” said Navelim-based Santosh Mandrekar, a founder member of the FC Goa Fan Club and a regular for domestic football matches.On their part, the local organizing committee have also stepped up their efforts. A total of 15,000 flyers have been prepared to be inserted into morning newspapers across South Goa and entry into the stadium has been made a lot easier.“People are quite aware about the championship and it can be seen in attendances at Fatorda and Bambolim. For tomorrow’s match, we think that India deserves a capacity crowd. It’s an important match. We have decided to first keep working with all the panchayats, the government of Goa, department of education and various stakeholders to get as many kids as possible to the stadium,” said tournament director Javier Ceppi “As an addition to that, we have a campaign tomorrow itself with the distribution of 15,000 pamphlets in South Goa just to force a couple of points, primarily that it’s a key match, tickets are free of cost and people can come in with their valid government ID to get into the stadium. India needs the support. The team needs to play in front of a large crowd, just like we would have at the (U-17) World Cup,” said Ceppi.