Returning to the city after winning the Under-14 Subroto Cup at New Delhi by defeating Mizoram in a penalty shootout, coach Harjinder Singh and the players were greeted by congratulatory notes from the sporting fraternity. The joy was clearly visible on the football coach's face as media-persons swarmed at the Sector 42 Sports Complex Hostel to get a view of the winning Chandigarh team that had created history by winning the sub-junior national title for the first time.
An ecstatic Harjinder shared how the odds were stacked against them but still managed to come out triumphantly. "I was not confident of winning the title this year, like I was last time. Some of our best boys graduated to the Under-17 level and we had to include five new faces in the team for the tournament. We only had six months to decide and make strategies for the tournament. Our main concentration was on five-six main players who had taken part last year and were expected to make a major impact for the Chandigarh team. On the other hand, we gave specific roles to the new players like keeping the ball to themselves, not losing the possession, check the opposition players and give time to other main players to make extra efforts. It worked," said the former international footballer.
Showering special appreciation on his players, Harjinder said that the team played better than expected in the final match and if it wasn't for their superlative performances, the team couldn't have win the elusive title. "All the players gave their best performances in the final. In the other matches, we attacked more in the first half and then defended in the second. We won three matches in tie-breaker. In the final match, we missed some scoring chances and also made some superb defending," Harjinder, who hailed Arjit's performance as a revelation during the tournament, shared. One of the reasons why Harjinder was not confident about team's win in the tournament was the lack of exposure trips.
Since April 2009, the Chandigarh Administration has not sent Chandigarh Football Academy players on exposure trips to Germany despite five-year Memorandum of Understanding with the Sportschule Egidius Braun in Leipzig, Germany. "The boys were outstanding despite lack of exposure trips. I was surprised with the way they played against some strong teams like Bengal and Mizoram. They played quality football," he said.