Nearly four thousand spectators attended Chennai City FC’s debut against Minerva Punjab FC recently. The actual number may have been a trifle less, but a good percentage of them turned up to see this one guy. The crowd roared whenever he slid in with his trademark crunching tackles and hooted in protest when the referee penalised him.
There were a number of high-profile stars on the pitch like Karanjit Singh, Dharmaraj Ravanan and Manandeep Singh, but for a lot present, this match was about one person — Dhanpal Ganesh.
After years, the defensive midfielder was playing at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, only a couple of train stations away from his home in Vyasarpadi.
“There were at least 500 of my friends and relatives present,” Dhanpal says. “They’ve been waiting for a long time to see me play. I thought I would be able to play in front of them when I got picked by Chennaiyin FC. But I couldn’t, due to health issues but being able to play for Chennai City FC has made up for it,” he adds.
Son of a daily-wage labourer, Dhanpal found a way out of poverty in football. He feels he can be an inspiration to many others if they see him play.
“I come from an area where kids struggle to even buy proper boots. But there’s lots of talent. I hope they get the chances I did. Earlier, they all used to play cricket, but now a lot of them have taken to football after watching me play.”
Dhanpal was injured last year while playing in a World Cup qualifying game in Bengaluru. The resulting injury saw him miss his first ISL season and face a painful recovery process with no club to support him. There were times when Dhanpal thought that he may never get back to the level at which he used to play.
“Dr Ashok, who was my mentor when I used to play for Pune FC, was in constant touch, so was Indian national team coach Stephen Constantine. Their encouraging words helped keep my spirits high. And my family supported me as much as they can.”
Now, the 25-year-old has set his sights on recapturing all that he lost. “In 2017, my aim is to get back into the Indian team. Of course, right now the focus is all on the I-League.”