As the ongoing Euro Cup football championship fever grips Valiyathura, the mushrooming ground for soccer talent in the district, a local lad is nurturing the dreams of donning the national colours and bringing laurels to this football-crazy coastal area.
Shaijumon M, a 21-year-old midfielder, who was included in the 28-member national squad for the U-22 Asia Cup qualifiers, is hoping to find a place in the final squad for the tournament, to be held in Oman from June 23 to July 1. The squad of 23 will be announced after a training camp in Dubai which started on June 15.
The former Chirag United player is the lone Malayali in the current squad, coached by Australian Arthur Papas.
The preparatory camp has been going on in Delhi since June 1. India, clubbed in Group A along with hosts Oman, Iraq, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates and Turkmenistan, will take on Lebanon on June 23 in their first match in the qualifiers.
“I hope I will be able to find a place in the final squad,” Shaijumon told Express over phone, just before boarding the flight to Dubai from Delhi.
Son of Gracy and late Muthappan, Shaijumon came into the reckoning when he was adjudged the best player in the state U-21 football championship held in Kozhikode last year. Soon after the conclusion of the championship, in which Thiruvananthapuram finished third, Shaijumon was snapped up by Chirag United Kerala, the sole representative of the state in the I-League then on a one-year contract.
“It has been a great experience. Although I was in and out of the team owing to injuries, I got a chance to play with some of the top players in the country,” said Shaijumon, who also played for Chandni FC and Valiyathura Football Academy.
As Chirag got relegated from the I-League, Shaijumon is ready to join some other top-clubs if he gets a decent offer. He has already held talks with Pailan Arrows, a Kolkata-based club owned and managed by the All-India Football Federation and the Pailan Group.
“The future of Chirag looks unsure. The talks with Pailan Arrows are only in the initial stage. At present, my priority is to get a place in the national side,” said Shaijumon, a third-year BA literature student of Sree Kerala Varma College, Thrissur.