CHENNAI: It is unlikely that S Nandhakumar knows what Liverpool legend Bill Shankly said about football. Nandha's father is an auto driver, while his brother drives an ambulance. So when the Chennai City winger was offered `45,000 a month to join the Accountant General's office, his family urged him to take it. Money like that was a matter of life and death for his family. But Nandha subscribes to the Shankly school of philosophy. Football is not a matter of life and death, Shankly once said. To Nandha, it’s certainly much more than that.
The Vyasarpadi-lad was one of the brightest young talents to emerge in this edition of the I-League, his skills taking him to the cusp of a national team call-up. But it all could have been over soon. Most young footballers, especially ones born into poverty, get offers like this at the beginning of their careers. It was a tough call, choosing between a stable job and playing in the city leagues for the rest of your career, attempting to make it to the highest level.
Many opt for the first choice for the second is too risky — a football career is, after all, only a bad injury away from ending. Indian football is filled with stories of talented footballers, but limited imagination.
Not Nandha though. “I want to play for the Indian team,” he says. “That is my ultimate aim. So when my family was pressuring me to accept the job, I told them ‘give me 10 years’. I am 21 now. If I don't make it big by 31, I'll do whatever you want me to do.”
Going by how he has been playing, it will likely take just 10 months before Nandha makes it. He was introduced to the Chennai City squad in the middle of the season by coach V Soundararajan. He abruptly brought Nandha to a press conference and made the announcement about his debut the next day. The coach had forgotten to tell everyone what his new recruit’s name was, and after the press conference, everyone was asking him exactly that. But barely a few weeks later, just after he had scored against East Bengal — one of Indian football's biggest names — Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium erupted with fans chanting his name. Everyone knew his name now.
It was a meteoric rise for a player, who only four years ago, was playing in the lowest tier of Chennai's football league for SC Steds, the organisation that first found him as a 12-year-old and gave him a pair of boots to play in. What SC Steds stands for — Slum Children Sports Talent and Education Development Society — tells a lot of Nandha's story.
“My parents did not have money to buy me boots and jerseys,” Nandha recalls. “Steds helped me out and gave me an opportunity to play.
I won the fourth division with them, then the third division and finished runners-up in the second division. Later, I got a chance to play with Hindustan Eagles and that was when everything changed. My displays there got me a spot in the Tamil Nadu Santosh Trophy squad, and then took me all the
way to Chennai City in the next season.”
Now Nandha has got a rare opportunity, one that very few Indian footballers get — he is one of the four Chennai City footballers who will train in Finland for a month, starting June. Nandha admits he is a bit scared. “I have heard that it gets really cold there. And the food is nothing like what we eat here. I don’t know how I’ll handle it,” he says.
A teammate standing next to him has a word of advice: “Just run really fast and score. You will be fine!”