Tribute to the person who taught me Joga Bonito!

This week has been a game changer for  IITH FC. My coach got a permanent position as the coach for the football team. Hearty Congratulations to him ! This could be the single most important thing that could have happened to IITH FC. I can be now rest assured that the team will be in great hands for the years to come. Here are some iconic snaps to one of the most influential person in my life – Akbar Sir.

The most pumped and fired up speech I heard was from him during the second match vs. Kanpur at INTER IIT 2010. This single moment changed IITH FC forever; somehow he managed to pump passion and pride into our game and hearts. From then, we went on to win the Bronze medal and finish in the top 4 for the last 2 years.  I can see that speech in my eyes as I am writing this post.

This Pic says it all ... After the bronze medal finish !!

Even during training when I could not keep going any further he was the person who made me to push my limits and never give up. I always feel that I that I sometimes am being pushed too hard, but then I saw Randy Pausch’s last lecture and all this made sense to me . “ Its good that you are being pushed harder ,it means the coach has not given up on you … When you are making mistakes and no one is pointing out and telling you your mistakes that means they have given up! “ thank you for not giving up on me till the last minute of the last game. Thanks for teaching me this wonderful game. It was because of you I learnt the discipline to train hard which I now am transferring to all aspects of my life . I could still hear your shouts in my mind while playing football " Goreyy Goreyy! " . 

Me with Akbar sir after the last game!

Many cheers and thanks! To all the alumni and current IITH FC players who made this happen. The future of IITH FC does look bright indeed. I wish I could make it to the Elan game! 

Class of 2013 with Coach Akbar

To the Current Players : Practice like a devil ,Play like an Angel and go for the gold! 

The Journey Continues!

So here I am, thinking it’s all over on a Friday evening. So many things have changed since I last played with red and white combo for my Alma matter. Thinking again I am surprised it’s just been 6 months- It sure seems eons ago looking back and pondering over all that had been done in the last four years. I really feel proud of the fact that we achieved a lot, but now I feel blank when I reflect on what’s next.

Most of the people are excited about Friday evenings because they want to go out and party or have a drink and relax. My Friday evenings are as intense as it would get. It’s called Indoor Soccer (Football, damn they Americanized me!). So here is what is cool about a big foreign university , you get players from all over the world and styles of football mix and match and create what is truly called a beautiful game. I do accept that my fitness has slacked a bit but I could only say that my game is onto a next level.

I also played in the intramural (intra collegiate leagues) for a couple of teams. Sadly both the teams could not get past the semifinals (Still couldn’t get past the jinx!!). The last game I played was at 10 ‘o’ clock in the night with freezing temperatures of -1 deg Celsius for a team called Busia United. We had the game in our hands but on the last minute the opponents scored due to a minor glitch which resulted in a free kick and we lost in the penalties 6-7. (All that was going on in my mind was Roorkee 2012 and kgp 2011). I got pulled out of the game in the second half as my toes froze due to this extreme weather.

Giving out everything for the game gives a sense of satisfaction, a sense of calmness that no other thing in the world could give. I hope to explore more of this beautiful game and hopefully give something back to this amazing sport. After all it’s been part of my major transformation of my adult life. This beautiful game sculpted my personality and my attitude towards life. Many of these thoughts would not resonate with a lot of people who don’t play football, but it will definitely strike a chord with the clueless footballers. All this said I got to get going , its Friday evening- my solace in this world during this part of my life- Peace! 

PS: I hear my IITH FC  is training super hard for this year's INTER IIT. Three cheers for them and my coach. Keep it up guys! 

Tribute to IITH FC

IITH FC Believe - This is a small tribute to the outgoing batch of players in IITH FC. 

(order from defense line to offense line )

Madhu Mohan Bhukya

Popularly Known as- El captiano

Position: Stopper ( Captain )

IITH FC is one of the best things that happened to me in IITH life. Leading IITH FC to win Bronze in IIT Kharagpur is the most awesome moment that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

Syed Khalid Mohammad  

Popularly Known as- SKM -The Bull

Position: Center Back

" IITH FC which is a substitute for Believe, is a bunch of students who sweat their blood out for IIT Hyderabad and I was lucky to be a part of it. It has taught so many things about love, sacrifice, defeat, victory and most importantly Believe . #IITH FC   "

Subhav Nandecha

Popularly Known as- Shub the Dipper

Position: Left Back

Starting from "zero" and reaching till the top not just ones but twice in consecutive years is not a joke. It takes 5PM-7PM daily. Playing for the team who has this much courage and enthusiasm, is the most amazing part of my IITH life. Thanks to Akbar sir and all team-mates for “BELIEVING” in me and making me believe in “BELIEVE”. 
IITH FC will always remain close to my heart.

Aswin Karthik

Popularly Known as- Goreyy ( Ashkar)

Position: Center Mid

 "One of the best moments in life is when you sweat your blood for a bigger cause and to win and see the happiness in the faces of your teammates. I literally spent more time on the ground than with the books! Started my FC career as a fat 75 kg stopper , got a straight red in Delhi, shifted to right wing back to win Bronze in KGP ,finally retiring as a playmaker after scoring two goals to help my team reach semis in Roorkee. All this taught me two very important lessons in life – never cease to BELIEVE and the power of will and hardwork. #IITH FC –One Love \m/ "

Parag Sarogi

Popularly Known as- Paggy

Position: Center mid (Playmaker)

"But one thing that I will miss the most is Football. My love with it has grown every passing day at IITH. Practically it is what I have done in the past 4 years. I have sweated it out and given it all to achieve something for the institute and I am glad to be one of the major reasons for the BRONZE!!!Some people can snatch away some individual awards that I deserved but no one can snatch the feeling of a bronze. Well it’s okay, they don’t have a bronze either and I am overwhelmed that this medal was purely based on merit. No chance of any politics being involved!!!"

 Ghanashyam Gowda

Popularly Known as- ShaumBoyy

Position: Right Mid

"Football is art and the footballers are artists "

Anil Kumar

Popularly Known as- Bolt

Position: Right Striker

" IITH FC is one of the best things that ever happened to me . It is the reason why I learnt football. The best memory will be scoring the winning goal for my team against IIT KGP. IITH FC means a lot to me and my teammates and will always be in my heart! " 

A very special thanks to Akbar sir from the pass-outs of IITH FC. This pic says it all... 

Without you all this would have never happened.

The great fire speech during the half time of Kanpur Match in IIT Delhi is the turning point of IITH FC. All of it will be in our hearts forever trickling into our minds and puts a smile in our face when we think about it!. 

Will Beats Skill (Part 1)

There is a saying by Paulo Coelho - " And when you want really something, the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it" in his famous book – The Alchemist. This quote has had a huge impact on me over the past year. There is another quote which I thoroughly believe in – “ Will beats Skill “. Yes, the will to win is the main motivating factor for any Footballer.

Pep talk by Akbar sir before the Match

The preseason for IITH FC was amazing – we thrashed many teams in the local neighborhood 5-0,6-1, 5-1 etc. But still we had miles to go in terms of the level of competition to match INTER IIT level. This time it was in Roorkee – Our last chance to win the championship. The pass outs ( Carlos, Paki , Yatharath , Pramod, Shyamang , Vindy , Chithransh ) from the last year team left a small dent in the team formation, but luckily we had two incredible additions to the team from my batch- SKM and Bolt. As the potential replacement to Yatharth ( Manas) was injured ,hence my coach moved me to center midfield position where I could see more of the ball. The Bronze medal was a huge motivation for the team and hence there was also huge pressure and expectation on the team. So we had to put in even more hard work than in the past years. Since the arrival of flood lights (thanks to Bindu ) we had longer practice sessions every day , sometimes even extending till 8:30 – 9:00 in the night. We even had morning practice sessions three months before INTER IIT – That’s 4-5 hours of practice a day for three whole months - This is not an easy feat to pull off with the added pressure of placements, acads etc. Of course I was enjoying every moment of it and we still had the FC fire in our hearts but we were also nervous as we felt we did not do enough.

So we set sail to Roorkee – the coldest freak place an IIT could have been built. The December in Hyderabad is moderately cold, but the weather in IIT Roorkee is a freak show compared to Hyderabad. We had no clue that it would mind numbingly cold – the average temperature was around 5 degree Celsius. We luckily bought skin tights along with our jersey to protect ourselves during the matches. The field in IIT R was actually small when compared to our ground, so we had a slight advantage in terms of our defense. The teams in our group were IIT Mandi, IIT Indore and IIT Kanpur and we could never underestimate the power of new IITs , so we had to give our best effort to win the matches.

MATCH #1 vs IIT Mandi

This is the team which I would say the second strongest amongst the newer IITs (after us of course! ). We had beaten them in the quarter finals of the last year’s tournament convincingly 3-1 after them taking the lead. This being said the pressure was on us to rip apart Mandi and also since Mandi had the home weather advantage on us . The kick off was at 3:30 in the afternoon, so we had no problem of mist and the weather was fairly warm which suits our playing condition. The match started and we were slightly nervous and were making wrong passes many a time mainly because it was the first time many in the team are playing in this level. But eventually we did get a hang of it and started becoming comfortable. Around the 30th minute we got a corner after a lot of miss chances. The corner was taken by Shyamboy , it was a beautifully crafted corner ( landing just outside the penalty line). Their defenders missed the header and I was standing near the far post waiting for this exact thing to happen and the ball bounced and was at my reach. I toed the ball and it hit the far post and went into the goal. The next few moments were bliss.




The momentary amount of ecstasy I had then was incomparable to anything I had experienced in my life till now. I started running around the ground in joy with my teammates behind me. It took about 10 minutes for me to calm down and it would have taken more time if not for Akbar sir shouting from the dug-out. It was my first goal for me in INTER IIT level – from a five minute send off to an opening goal – it was all flashing in my mind. It took every ounce of will power to get back in game. The game went fairly with us having a majority of the possession. We however made a small defensive blunder which cost us badly and we ended up drawing the match which we easily should have won.

MATCH #2 vs IIT Kanpur



This was the game I was eagerly waiting for – It was revenge time. We would have met in the third place match in IIT Kharagpur if not for their disqualification. So this time I knew it was payback time for the defeats we had in their hands in the first two INTER IITs at Kanpur and Delhi. I also could never ever forget my send off against them in Delhi. Hence I so wanted to beat these guys very badly to find peace for my ego. This time the kick off was at 11:30 and it was damn cold. We didn’t get the chance to warm up properly and we started off on a bad note giving a penalty to them at the 10th minute. Déjà vu – it was happening all over again I thought. They had such low sportsmanship that they started wasting time so early in the match using throw ins and faking injuries (******).

Level of visibility during the match

The following 60 minutes of the game were one of the most fire filled game I saw being played by IITH FC. I could see in each of my team mates eyes” how badly they want to win?”. Kanpur’s defense was a bit inexperienced and fortunately for us we had two of the fastest strikers of INTER IIT ( Navanshu a.k.a Junglee , Anil a.k.a Bolt ).We ripped apart their defense. We were dominating possession and making an attempt at goal every 5 minutes of the match. Eventually their defense had to break down as Anil scored a beautiful chip for a goal. The entire Kanpur team was stunned after the screaming we did after the goal. To be frank they were intimidated by us for the first time. The second half started with us pumped up full of fire. We had to use their weak fullbacks to our advantage and hence we mainly moved the ball from the wings and had to put the ball to the strikers. In the end this worked and we scored two more goals both being scored by Navanshu. Kanpur realized Karma is B*t*h.

MATCH #3 vs IIT Indore

The match against Indore was supposed to be a cake walk and it was. The only glitch was that the match was scheduled at 8:30 in the morning and it was freaking cold and one could not see beyond 20ft because of the mist. But not to worry as we totally outclassed Indore as we were in altogether new level. This match witnessed one of the marveling performances by a striker in IITH – Navanshu- the Hat Trick hero. All of INTER IIT was taking a look at IITH and he eventually became the most feared striker of INTER IIT 2012.

Navanshu

So again we were the group toppers for the second year in a row. The expectations rose but as again challenges rose with it. The Quarter finals were against IIT Kharapur. They were the favorites for winning the tournament- They had a skill level that is one step higher than all the IITs. Till now our defense and goal keeper were never tested to the limits. So there were severe doubts whether we could handle the might of KGP. Seeing their practice sessions one day left us in awe for the team. But we could never stop to Believe – not after Roorkee! 

                                                 Contd......... ( Scroll down for Part 2 )

Will Beats Skill (part 2)

So we went in with full preparation after Akbar sir giving us valuable tips on how to handle KGPs No 7 and No 10. The kick off was at 10:00 am.



We started the match confidently putting in crosses from the wings to test their defense. In the second minute of the match we got a free kick at about ~30 m from the goal. Again Shyam took the free kick and I intuitively started running around their defense line to shake off the man marking me before finally positioning myself near the near post. I could never forget the next twenty seconds of the play. He took the kick and it was beautifully lobbed in just above the wall (I thought he would go for goal) and hit my leg and bounced for a volley near the D-line at almost zero angle to the near post. The next few moments were like slow motion, my eyes lit up seeing the opportunity for a volley and I swung my right leg for a perfect out foot shot. The ball grazed the goal keepers hand and went into the goal (the sweet sound of the nets). This time I was stunned by the situation and managed to do a Thiery Henry kind of celebration telling the audience to be quiet. It was yet another moment of eternal bliss. With the adrenaline running high and by being crushed by the hugs from my teammates – this is my most memorable moment of my FC career. We were leading against IIT KGP at the 3rd minute!!!





Of course we still had miles to go before the end. The KGP team quickly raised the tempo of their game and we entered a total defense mode. I dropped behind to play as a CDM . As I said before the KGP team’s skill level is a class apart and they were attacking from left and right , shots were being taken from all around the field . Our goal keeper was never tested to this kind of attack before. Expectations were lower from him after stepping into the shoes of Paki. But the following hour’s performance he gave for the team demands huge respect (He was almost equal to Paki) – saving at least 20~25 shots. I witnessed one of most hard working defense during the rest of the match. Special Thanks to them (Ravi Kiran – RB , Khalid – CB , Madhu- CB , Subhav- LB )! They were literally drained out of energy after the match. Even I have been drained out - At one point I was literally tackled in the air and was breathless for a minute and the referee had to force me to sit out but I refused and continued playing. The first half ended with us in the lead 1-0.

At the beginning of second half we decided we couldn’t risk the chance conceding by defending heavily so we decide we’ll take a couple of chances and then at the 48th minute we had one lucky counter attack. Navanshu got the ball in the center and gave a beautiful lob-through ball over their high defense line up and Anil made a timely run to get ahead of the defense to have a one on one chance with the goal keeper. Their goal keeper made a huge blunder of advancing and seeing this Anil chipped the ball above the head of the goal keeper (who was outside the D-Line now ) for a goal. It was one of the most beautiful goals I had witnessed. That moment we were sure that the match is ours and that we were knocking out the favorites out of the championship. The numerous attempts of KGP at goal were either blocked by the defense of stopped by the Deepak who was in superlative form. The whole of IITH contigent was present during the match chanting Goomtha lakdi gula gula Hoo Haa Hoo Haa . The whole ground was vibrating at the final blow of the whistle. We did it again; we broke the shackles again to reach the semifinal knocking out the favorites. The KGP team was in tears after the game. I couldn’t believe the result. Will had beat Skill!







Nevertheless this game had taken a heavy toll on us leaving many injuries on many of our players. We gave our best in the semis and 3rd place match losing by a margin of only one goal each. The referees who had initially been against us were full in respect and awe for us and our coach after the tournament. This was a defining moment in IITH FC timeline – we had started to make older IITs fear – we again proved we are no longer a new IIT and finally we proved “ Will beats Skill” .

IITH FC Class of 2013

                                                                              ~ Football My Soul …. A Blog by Aswinreva \m/

IITH FC - Believe! ( Part 1 )

There are some flashes of memories that just pop up in your mind when you try to sleep and you suddenly start smiling- you feel the adrenaline being pumped in your blood. Well it’s been a long time since I finally gathered the energy to add a new story to this blog, but believe me it’s the best story of my Football life. It’s a story of an underdog beating the odds with nothing but a will to succeed –classic David vs Goliath!  It’s the story of IITH FC – BELIEVE!

It was the winter of 2011, we had put together a great team and the fitness levels could not have been higher. Our coach was clearly determined that no one would miss even a single practice session ( I had already written how grueling the practice sessions might be sometimes) during the first 2 weeks of december. We had never won a single match in INTER IIT till then and not scored a single goal. So we had a good team with high spirits but still the task set before was a daunting uphill task!. We had in fact drew one match against IIT Guwahati the year before (Inter IIT 2010 – it was another story altogether-coming soon!). It was the last chance for my seniors to give it all as they were in their final year.  We decided even if we weren’t to win, we’ll give the opponents a tough ride. There were two older IITs (IIT-Roorkee and Guwahati – both highly skilled tough teams ) and IIT Bhuvaneshwar in our pool.

So we packed our bags and boarded the train to IIT Kharagpur . The stage was set and there was huge pressure on us. The weather conditions were much better (more like our own campus) than in IIT Delhi. Our first match was against IIT Guwahati, they had already lost their first match against Roorkee 2-0. We had closely watched that match and we had our plans laid out. The Guwahati team is technically good team at passing but they never utilize the wings. Hence we had to open up their wings to break their defense and close up our defense to stop their attack. It was pretty simple really.

I thought I would not start the match but the coach gave me the green signal and I was in the starting eleven .( I played Right back). Our defense line was great and we had a unbeatable Goal keeper ( Paki ) in our line up so we were ready for Guwahati ). It was my first match in which I was in the playing eleven. I was very nervous cause I felt I was the weak link in the defense.  The match was intense and our gameplay was tested to the limits. We matched the Guwahati team in speed, strength and stamina. In fact I felt we were a little bit better in terms of speed. Both of our strikers were extremely fast and even though they were freshmen they played like pros in that game.  In the end the Guwahati team could’nt break through our defense and the match was a 0-0 draw. They were shocked and a little attention was on IIT H because we drew against the old IIT not once but twice.

The second match was with Roorkee . They didn’t even show up in our match against Guwahati, mainly because they were confident that they can beat us easily (boy they were wrong ! ). We know their gameplay – they used the width of the pitch to the full extent and they were extremely fast ( like the now Bayern Munich ) and their left out was a tough cookie ( he was kinda like Marcelo) . The coach warned me before the match about that guy’s tactic wherein he gives a fake and brings the ball inside towards the goal. Even though I knew what I had to do to stop him I had huge pressure on me as all the seniors told that it’s all up to me now!  The match started with crazy pace and they firing balls from every angle possible. Fortunately we had an awesome Goalie so no problems. The tested our wing backs with a few attacks from the left flank and found that we had cannon for a leftback ( Carlos! ) and all those attacks were in vain as the ball was launched every time into their half. So what’s left now! – They started developing all their attacks from left flank towards me (those bas***ds).  I had to be tough, even a slight sign of weakness could mean a goal. My heart was thumping my ribs every time their left out got the ball and every time instead of crossing the ball he decided to dribble towards me and every time I had some part of my leg on the ball and made sure it went to throw in or a corner. But a funny thing was happening to me.  After each tackle that I made I was gaining huge amount of confidence. Then I found out that at each passing minute not only me but my whole team was gaining confidence and our gameplay started to improve dramatically. We started to create chances but the roorkee defense was not an easy one to break-in.  After every attack we had to face a speedy counter attack as we neared the end of the game. I was totally exhausted and my legs refused to move. I didn't know what to do!...           ( Scroll Down for Part -2 )

IITH FC - Believe! ( Part 2 )

Our coach Akbar sir was shouting at me“Goreyy! Goreyy! “And all I wanted was the match to end. We had five minutes left in the game and after making a successful tackle I cleared the ball into their half and eventually created a chance for our striker ( Junglee) . But the Roorkee leftback made a unnecessary foul on our striker tried reaching for the ball .Hence we got a free kick at somewhere in the right half of their half. Our coach was shouting out instructions and it was our last hope! and so our playmaker- Yatharth took the free kick. It was one of the perfect free kicks were it landed exactly on the penalty line right in-between the goal keeper and the defense line. The ball hit one of their players and rebounded to Parag. All this time, I was literally praying that it would be goal and the next few moments were like a slow motion movie. The ball was put in the back of the net and I actually felt the ground vibrate as we started running towards “the first goal scorer in IITH History- the legend” in ecstasy. The whole IIT H contingent was inside the field celebrating, shouting out chants and the referee had to intervene and clear the ground before resuming the match again. By the time I came back to my postion I was in peace- I think it was at that specific moment in which we as team- IITH FC started to BELIEVE!

The whistle blew and we won – The first victory – the first goal- it was ours. We beat one of the top teams in the tournament. All the teams were stunned by the result. We were the talk of the day as it was the first time a new IIT bet an older IIT in any sport.  We bet IIT Bhuvaneshwar 2-0 the next day with a help of an amazing chip by Carlos. We topped our group and made History that day. We were the hope of all new IITs. Nothing was more imperative than the fact that we had to win against Mandi in the quarter finals. There was drama early in the match as we conceded a goal  I still don’t know how that went in ) but we amped up our game and scored three more goals to go to the Semifinals. We again created history by putting our IIT on the points table. We had a tough match against Delhi in the Semis and almost got through to the finals. They got a lucky break and got a penalty in the dying minutes and capitalized on it. We were devastated and torn apart after the match as our dream run was over. We were silent after the match as we knew we could have done better(Ahh that blistering feeling you get! ).

I had an early dinner and went to sleep exhausted by the defeat. We had to face Kanpur next day in the 3^rd place match. I was sound asleep and one of my teammate ( Shyamboy )woke me up and said we won the Bronze medal. I thought he was pulling my leg but apparently Kanpur had been playing an outside player in their matches and was disqualified and we won the Bronze medal by default.All the hours of practice at the grounds weren't a waste. We wrote history that night .The night was full of celebrations and the next day upon receiving the medals of honor- we knew we had done well- we as a team have proved that IITH is no longer a new IIT . We as a team started to Believe.

Football  ~my Soul – A blog by Aswinreva!