Celebrations of the 56th Subroto Cup
On Friday evening Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi celebrated an occasion to remember, the Final of the Subroto Cup U-17 Tournament. One of the elite junior level tournaments in the country, Subroto Cup is historically a rich tournament which every kid playing football in the country wants to be part of.
This year the celebration of the tournament reached a whole new level when Pele, also known as the god of football was the guest of honour for the finals. It was only the second time the footballing legend has come in India and the first time in Delhi.
As the evening loomed over the stadium in the capital, the atmosphere became colourful. The main stand of the stadium as full of Indian Air Force personals and their families; everyone in crowd was waiting for a look of the legend. On the two stands on the sides’ children from various schools with their cheerful faces provided a gloss to the evening. Their eyes had an exuberance which the finals needed.
On the Stand opposite of the main side stand, there was a mix rarely seem. A bunch of NCC cadets seated disciplined, noticing every move taking place inside the stadium. The nearby locals also came in good number as they did in the semi-finals; these locals really do seem to have interest of the game and follow each team very closely. They also seem to be good students of the game cheering every attacking move and good defensive block.
The majority of away stand was filled with Manipuri supporters who brought a huge flag with them and chanted for their side throughout the game. With their loud cheers and appreciations towards Manipuri team one can say these supporters were the only audiences in the stadium who supported one single team whole heartedly. For everyone else in the stadium it seemed a celebration of football. The crowd had plastic trumpets; very own Indian version of the vuvuzelas, with them providing a flavour to the final.
The performance of the school kinds before the start of the game and during the halftime was delightful. It brought smile on everyone’s faces, although Pele might have been expecting some samba style performances, children danced on Bengali songs, patriotic song and religious songs. There was exhilarating marching drill performance by airmen of Indian Air Force with rifles in their hand on soothing symphony music to set up the final.
As per the pre match shows, the final also lived up to the occasion the Manipuri boys showed great fight against the favourites AIFF F.C, and were also able to take the lead, eventually losing 4-1. Indian football craves for more such evenings at junior level competitions and let us all hope that there is more of Indian football yet to come.