KOCHI: Rajasthan United FC pulled off a fairytale story by upstaging a host of strong contenders to win the I-League qualifiers recently and seal their place in the upcoming I-league.
A region with little to no footballing presence, the Rajasthan outfit making it to the I-League is something that defies belief especially considering the challenges that they've had to face.
"It is very difficult to elaborate in words. You can imagine, a state where there was no football at all and the association was banned for more than seven to eight years and there was no structure. When they had a local league in the name of the R-League, we had to play seven matches in eight days. So if you speak of the magnitude of the victories, it is huge," said their head coach Vikrant Sharma during a media interaction on Tuesday.
The local league required the team to play a host of matches close to each other which is unheard of in professional football but the team led by the dynamic coach had the desire to play on the national stage.
"You have to play seven matches in eight days which is practically not possible. But somehow we managed those seven matches in eight days. Then we got confirmation that we will be participating in the I-League qualifiers. The process started but it is tough to convince the players and tell them that we have a bright chance of qualifying. Everyone wants to play in a team where there is a structure and there is a base. Everybody wants to have a good chance to come into the I-League," said the 48-year-old.
Despite the struggles, the team never lost belief and it was not a case of simply participating in the competition. The team always held the faith that they could win the qualifiers.
"Before we started this journey, we had spoken with the management that in case we qualify, it would be a huge achievement. There was an assurance from the management that once we are there in the league, they will ensure that we do well in terms of finances and all that," he added.
The challenge now is to keep the show going and the club is confident of sustaining the run, which in turn can help football in the state.
"We are looking forward to the I-League. Definitely, we are looking to compete in the top 4 and we are working on it. We want to sign some good players to compete in the league," said Rajat Mishra, the Director of Rajasthan United FC.