Would you believe it if told that an Indian football team recently routed an English side 12-0, a French team 17-1, and a Brazilian team 2-1 to lift an international cup? You better, because that’s exactly what Minerva Academy’s under-12 side achieved against peers at the Gothia Cup, an annual international youth tournament across age groups organised for over half a century in Sweden’s Gothenburg. The football academy based in Chandigarh and owned by Ranjit Bajaj also won the U14 Norway Cup last year. It shows what a man on a mission to promote a neglected sport can accomplish. It should stir India’s football administrators to action on grassroots development and make prospective sponsors believe in the sport’s future in the country if it’s guided smartly.
