CHENNAI: Imagine you are a 19-year-old, you are playing for your boyhood club, and you enter the pitch at a juncture when your team’s fortunes are dwindling. But as you make your way into the pitch, you can hear at least 10,000 fans passionately screaming your name.
Before you know, you receive the ball and cut through Jamshedpur FC to score your first senior goal for Chennaiyin FC with your left foot, just like your idol, Lionel Messi. Immediately, the crowd goes bonkers despite your team losing the contest comfortably. That’s how Prakadeswaran announced himself.
“It was quite an emotional and happy moment for me that the fans were cheering for me,” Prakadeswaran tells DT Next.
“I made my debut for Chennaiyin FC, and I’m a regular as well, I want to thank everyone in the management and all the coaches. They have had full faith in me, and have developed my game since I was 13,” the youngster thanked everyone at the club.
It is no surprise that Messi has inspired the youngster heavily, as you can see it in his game – be it dribbling past defenders or making space to shoot with his left-foot – it is straight out of Messi’s playbook.
“I used to follow Lionel Messi a lot, and I still adore him a lot, so I have watched a lot of his videos, and I still watch a lot of his videos before the game,” the youngster adds.
Few academy graduates have connected with Chennaiyin supporters as quickly as Prakadeswaran has over the last two months. And, his growth isn’t through conventional means, either, making his story very special.
“My dad and everyone around me are football players, and I have been playing football since the days I have known. We used to practise during festivals, where we play 3x3 football barefoot,” the Chennaiyin FC product reveals.
Unlike other footballers at the club, Prakadeswaran is a through and through Chennaiyin FC product, having risen the age-groups, training under Ramakrishnan (U-13s), Lakshmanan (U-15s) and Rajan Mani at the U-17 level. Despite not being able to take part in the U-17 tournament for Chennaiyin FC, Mani had trusted the youngster as their leader for the Youth Cup, where they crashed out in the semi-finals.
“First of all, I met him [Rajan Mani] when he came to Chennaiyin FC, and I was promoted to Under-17, and he encouraged me a lot during that time. He gave me captaincy at the U-17 level, and I scored a vital goal too. We lost the tournament in the semis, and he was the coach for Santosh Trophy as well, and was there during the trials as well,” he states.
Mani didn’t just trust the youngster at Chennaiyin FC but also was instrumental in handing the then 17-year-old his Tamil Nadu cap, making him one of the youngest debutants in the state. The trust didn’t end there either, as it was the former Tamil Nadu coach who even handed the youngster the armband at Chennaiyin FC’s under-18 setup, with a message that he resonates till date.
“He was the one who picked me in the team, and I was the first player to make his state debut at the age of 17. He believed in me so much, and I was a youngster in that squad. He was also part of the reserve setup, and I learnt a lot about my game and professionalism from him,” he gleamed with joy.
“I got the opportunity to captain the U-18 side in Chennaiyin FC, where we won a game through tie-break. He [Rajan Mani] came up to me and told me, you have to take up more responsibility and gave me the captain’s armband. He told me ‘Sunil Chettri has worn this captain's armband, and I’m giving it to you’. It motivated me during the games, and I put more effort into helping my team.”
If Mani was instrumental in his formative years, Chennaiyin FC’s head coach, Clifford Rayes Miranda now stands as his father figure, helping the 19-year-old understand every minute details about the sport.
“Clifford [Miranda] sir is like my father only, he teaches me a lot of things about life, and he’s my go-to-man. He’s always kind to the players, and encourages us a lot during practice sessions,” the Chennaiyin FC youth product said.
While his goal against Jameshedpur is world-class, the tale behind it is even better, as Miranda had visualised the exact moment in the training session before the clash.
“Before the clash against Jamshedpur FC, I was working out alone after the training. He came and told me don’t shoot here, instead dribble. He also taught me about positioning, and where I can shoot the ball, and it was when I learnt about spacing and positioning. I scored exactly like that in the game. It was the first thing that came to my mind when he scored.”
But the goal still remains to be an Indian footballer, and play in Spain and Argentina, just like his idol, Messi.
“My next goal is to play for India and play in Spain and Argentina,” he signs off.