It was a dream come true for Delhi boys Inonito Zhihoni and Akshay Hurria after they were named among the 15 players who have been selected by IFB Boca Football Champs to travel to Argentina and train with the legendary Club Athletico Boca Juniors.
After a nationwide hunt for the most promising football talent, 15 promising school and college level football players have been selected to fly to Buenos Aires and train with Club Atletico Boca Juniors as part of the IFB Boca Football Champs football scouting initiative.
Inonito (Genesis Global School, Delhi), Liam Bain (Frank Anthony Public, Kolkata), Cladeo Nangplug (Spicer HS, Pune), Dominic Soares (Fr. Agnel School, Pilar, Goa), Guru Raj (Parikrama Centre for Learning, Bangalore), Jishnu Balakrishnan (MSP High School, Calicut) and Khusen Manger (St. Anthony's HSS, Shillong) were the selected school players.
The selected college players included, Nikhil Prashar (Khalsa College, Chandigarh), Yohan Confectioner (St. Xavier College, Kolkata), Muzarfar Ali ( Barasat College, Kolkata), Banpynkhrawnam Nongkhlaw (St. Anthony's College, Shillong), Albor-Miky Suchiang, (Shillong College, Shillong), Clencio Pinto (Rosary College, Goa), Akshay Hurria (Shri Venketeshwara, Delhi) and Subhitlal K (Zamorin Guruvayurapan, Calicut).
Launched in December 2013 by IFB Industries Ltd, the football scouting initiative included a national football tournament for school and college students across the country which culminated with the finals being played in Goa.
Sixteen teams from eight cities -- Delhi, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Bangalore, Kozhikode, Shillong, Pune and Goa -- battled it out in Goa for the top spot. The sports initiative drew over 4,000 players from 270 schools and 186 colleges from 8 cities across the country.
IFB roped in Club Atletico Boca Juniors who have had players like the legendary Diego Maradona and other players including Gabriel Batistuta, Juan Sebastian Veron, Riquelme, Claudio Canigga, Gago and Carlos Tevez.
30 shortlisted players from the tournament participated in a one week training camp in Goa conducted by coaches from Club Atletico Boca Juniors, Alejandro Javier Blasco and Alberto Jose Estevez along with Head Scout at the IFB Boca Football Champs, Jamshid Nassiri.
