By Admin 
In a first for the State, Tamil Nadu won the National sub-junior (u-14) boys’ Tier 2 football championship in Chhattisgarh with a 2-1 win over Telangana on Thursday.
“This victory is great as Tamil Nadu has been promoted to the top tier (Tier 1). We received several congratulatory calls and messages from senior coaches. Though our girls’ teams have won the tournament before, this is the first time for our boys,” said Edwin Raj Thomas, head coach of the victorious Tamil Nadu boys’ team.
It was not easy to train the team as the boys were not used to playing 11-a-side tournament. They are used to playing five-a-side and nine-a-side events, but Edwin used his experience to good effect.
To organise and play together as a team was a challenge, said Edwin.
“We had a 12-day camp in Bodinayakanur (Theni) where we devised strategies. The boys were technically sound but majority of them were not used to playing 11-a-side. We had to assign positional roles and responsibilities. And the boys responded well,” said the head coach.
Playing a possession-based game, Tamil Nadu didn’t concede a goal till the semifinals. In the group stage, it defeated Madhya Pradesh 3-0, thumped Puducherry 15-0 and trumped Tripura 3-0 in the semifinals, before defeating Telangana in the summit clash.
Edwin picked strikers Souvik Halder, defender R. Roshan and midfielders Jerry, Nikhil Tej and Jeremiah as one’s to look out for.
“I would like to thank Rohit Ramesh, owner of erstwhile Chennai City FC, for giving me the platform. He was the first to give me responsibility as an assistant coach of Chennai City FC in the Chennai Football Association first division league in 2014. When Chennai City was promoted, I was made the head coach,” recalled Edwin.