Shubho Paul, the Sudeva Delhi FC youngest Hero I-League captain who got selected for the FC Bayern World Under-19 Squad believes that he can be a better footballer than Indian Football team captain, Sunil Chhetri if he keeps playing like this.
Talking to ANI Shubho said, “This is really a big opportunity for me and I don’t want to forget people who have helped me. If I am going to Bayern Munich it’s all because of Sudeva Delhi FC. I will nerve forget how I started and I will make my family and country proud.” “My brother is my role model. If I will keep playing like this one day I will definitely become a better footballer than Sunil Chhetri,” Shubho added.
“When I came to know about my selection during a meeting I was surprised and was very happy as players clapped for me. I want to play well and to Play in their(FC Bayern Munich) senior team, I know it’s not that easy but I have got the opportunity to play in the Bayern Munich world squad. Friends and family are giving me confidence and I feel that I will definitely play well there.” “There was a local football training ground where I used to watch people playing. I was not able to do the practice there because I had no shoes with me but one day the coach asked me ‘you only watch people playing why don’t you play’ then I said ‘okay.’ I used to play without shoes while everyone played with shoes on. But when I started netting goals then the coach gave me the shoes and jersey.”
Shubho will soon be flying to attend the training program, in which special focus will be placed on team building and cultural exchange in addition to the sporting aspects. The FC Bayern World Under-19 squad will conclude with a training camp in Munich for all selected talents. There, the young footballers will have the chance to get to know FC Bayern even better and to compete in a match with FC Bayern. Talking to ANI Anuj Gupta president of Sudeva Delhi FC Said, “Shubho has been with us since 2016-17. He came for a trial from Kolkata and in the last four years, the way he has performed has caught the eye of everyone including the Indian national team who also decided to call him. Luckily in March, I was in talks with someone who is from Germany they told me that Bayern Munich is coming up to create Bayern Munich World squad U19 where they will identify the talent from across 64 countries. I sent Shubho’s videos after which they started the process and in the time of one month, they decided to include him in the squad.”
In the first season of the U-13 I-League, Paul emerged as the leading scorer with 58 goals in 14 matches. This amazing outing by the teenager caught the eyes of the national team scouts and he was invited to join the India U-15 national camp. He then scored 13 goals in the 2018-19 AIFF U-15 Youth League and was a part of the India U-16 exposure tour to Turkey in 2019-20 where he scored three goals in two appearances.
He scored three goals in three matches in the 2019-20 AFC U-16 Championship Qualifiers in Uzbekistan. He also netted 14 goals in the AIFF U-18 Youth League and then appeared for Sudeva FC in the 2020-21 I-League, scoring two goals in eight appearances. (ANI)
