Together: In victory and in loss

cal and tactical approach. The sub-junior category team this year, was led by Jeremiah, a Chennai boy, who idolises Lionel Messi. As a first-time captain, Jeremiah says he was filled with deter-

- NIDHARSHANA RAJU

ON May 26, defeat hung heavy in the air, at the Scamper Park football facility in Mahabalipuram. The scoreboard read 2-1. Eleven boys in their sweat-stained white jerseys, walked up to receive their silver medals. Some managed to fight their tears. Some left teary-eyed. Some others welled and weeped.

The team's defeat however, didn't erase the record that they had already set. The lads, representing FC Madras, became the first to lead a Tamil Nadu-based football club into the finals of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) nationals in the sub-junior category.

Despite the feat, the team stood low. Afterall, the boys spent eight months training for this tournament, played 230 games against 64 different teams, put up a nail-biting fight in the semi-finals a game they won after it stretched into a penalty shootout and reached the final.

On the D-day, they saw their opposition, Minerva FC from Punjab, bag two goals early in the game. The team's striker Areez Alam's goal in the 70+5' minute, restored faith in the game, but in vain.