CHENNAI: Fans who had gathered to watch the Chennai Football Association’s Senior Division on Tuesday must have been rubbing their eyes in disbelief. Chennai City FC were taking on AGORC in a game that was supposed to be competitive — after all the two teams had finished third and eighth, respectively, last season. But then the Chennai City players trotted out and any notion of two evenly-matched teams went straight out of the window. Playing in a city league game were half their I-League team!
Anchoring the midfield was Zakeer Mundampara, who was lining up alongside the likes of John Arne Riise for Chennaiyin FC a few months ago. On the pitch were Edwin Vanspaul and Michael Soosairaj, who both made their I-League debuts this season. Playing up front was Malsawmfela, who in his short career has played for Pailan Arrows, Aizawl FC and DSK Shivajians and was once looked at as the next big thing in Indian football. On the bench was another youngster S Nandha Kumar, who had impressed on his I-League debut against Churchill Brothers.
The result? A completely one-sided affair with Chennai City winning 3-0. And it wasn’t a good 3-0 for Chennai should have scored five or six. Soosai opened the scoring with a beauty but missed an open goal late in the game. Malsawmfela likewise, first scored a brilliant individual goal but then had an effort cleared off the line. Zakeer had a penalty saved. The game looked every bit like what it was supposed to be — an I-League outfit taking on a district league club.
There was another I-League star loitering around the ground though he wasn’t wearing his playing gear. A Raegan, who has spent so many years firing in goals for AGORC, was loaned out to Chennai City but was ineligible to play. That did not stop him from joining former teammates on the AGORC bench. At one point, Zakeer jokingly turned to the rival bench and asked Raegan to get him some water. The Thoothoor striker duly obliged.
Anto Xavier, who is managing Chennai City in the CFA Senior Division, revealed that playing I-League players is a policy the club would follow throughout the season. “I have been given free reign to play whoever I want as long as it does not disrupt the team’s I-League preparations. So I will play whatever team I need for each match. Maybe in the tough games, I will throw in the likes of Tank (Marcus Vinicius) and Charles (D’Souza). But our focus will be on local players in the squad,” he said.