Lakshadweep football: What it means to root for the underdogs

The sun's nascent rays were beating down on those seated on the crumbling terraces of the EMS Corporation Stadium in Kozhikode when a whistle signalled the start of the Santosh Trophy qualifiers in Kerala.

Pondicherry and Lakshadweep, two of the least fancied sides in Group H, kicked off the qualifiers Wednesday morning. Kerala, the favourites, and Railways, the side expected to pose them a firm challenge, played later in the afternoon.

The venue was bereft of the energy it emitted just ten days ago when 35,000 spectators filled in for the final of Super League Kerala. Small groups of men and boys, totalling no more than 50, tried their best to replicate the same enthusiasm. They were all from various islands in Lakshadweep. Pondicherry had no visible fans in the stadium.

"Nissame," went a scream from the crowd. That was Nauffer, a native of Kalpeni, an island in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep. He was trying to draw the attention of a player warming up behind the dugout. Nizam looked up, smiled heartily and blew a kiss.

Nauffer, a physical education teacher, was with a group of schoolboys from Lakshadweep who had been selected to participate in the national school games swimming competition in Rajkot. The boys watched for the first 45 minutes before leaving the venue for training at a city pool.

While the boys were in attendance, they had been treated to some fine football. Striker Mohammed alias Mammu scored a brace as Lakshadweep led 2-1 at the break. The islanders, coached by former national goalkeeper Feroz Sheriff, were quite adventurous in the first 45 minutes. They pressed Pondicherry higher up, forcing long balls, and held on to possession for longer periods. One of Mammu's goals seemed to have come from a training ground routine as he took up a perfect position to place a header from a deep freekick chipped over the wall.

If the young fans wanted to admire the creativity of the opposition, that too was of offer in the first half. Midfielder Lokesh K, sporting brilliant blue hair, carved open the Lakshadweep defence with a sumptuous diagonal from outside his favoured left foot. Vinithkumar, a willing runner on Pondi's right flank, collected it and played a fine low ball across for Dhilipan to score.

The school boys in the gallery had also been pushed onto the edge of their seats when Lakshadweep defender Abooshameem Bilal attempted an acrobatic clearance and missed. Dhilipan, who had not expected the ball to fall kindly in front of him, scuffed his shot from point blank to the relief of Shafeeque S in the Lakshadweep goal.

"These players are so talented but don't get regular football training. Almost everyone does some other work to sustain," said Mohammed Amjad Ali at half-time. Amjad had been sitting with a different group of youngsters from Lakshadweep. They were students of Farook College in Kozhikode. Amjad, from Andrott Island, is doing his post-graduation in Chemistry. He said about 60 students from Lakshadweep are studying various courses at Farook.

The Lakshadweep fans seemed to know every player personally. "You see that boy, he is also a good cricketer," Amjad points to a substitute warming up. Do you know Mohammed Aimen and Mohammed Azhar, the twins who play for Kerala Blasters? "Yes, we're relatives. They belong to the family my uncle married into," Amjad said.

Nauffer had managed to return after entrusting the boys with other instructors. He had spotted former Lakshadweep coach Deepak C M in the crowd. "Sir was our coach for a few years," Nauffer reminded Deepak, who was there in the capacity of a football scout. "We played some wonderful football back then, didn't we?" Deepak reminisced. It was in January 2017, at the same venue. Lakshadweep created history by recording their first win in the national football championships, a hard-fought 1-0 over Telangana. "Sir had a group of youngsters ready to die for him," Nauffer said. "Yes, their commitment was remarkable. I always say that the best football we played that year was in a 2-0 defeat to Tamil Nadu," Deepak said.

Meanwhile, the second half was underway. Pondicherry defender S Dhanasekhar produced a last-ditch tackle to deny Lakshadweep a third. "Mele po, mele po," screamed Pondicherry goalkeeper Yaswanth P S, reminding his backline to push upfield. Yaswanth's appeal made perfect sense, as Pondicherry had been on the backfoot in the first half. Their gameplan was straightforward -- feed the wingers and attack the centre for pull backs -- but it was not greatly effective. Pondicherry had also tried playing it long, hoping their strikers could outrace Lakshadweep's flat back-four. But in the second half, they came up with a more direct tactic when they realised young Shafeeque in the Lakshadweep goal had butter fingers.

That realisation paid dividends for Pondicherry as they turned a deficit into a win in the last 15 minutes. The serendipitous moment came after the final water break on 75 minutes. Shafeeque spilt a long range effort. He parried it straight back into the centre of the box, where Dhilipan was ready to pounce. 2-2. The equaliser in the 79th minute had come out of nothing, and the Lakshadweep fans were stunned.

Lakshadweep had squandered a handful of chances in between and now they were crestfallen. Pondicherry sensed the mood change and went for the kill. They targeted the nervous goalkeeper again with tempting high balls. He fumbled, again, in added time. Dhilipan was again at the right place to score, and win it 3-2. It was the easiest of hat-tricks a striker could score.

"We need more commitment. We're not here on a picnic. No one wins a football game without converting the chances, and we missed so many. I want the boys to show that desire to win," coach Sheriff told Onmanorama at full-time. He was furious, but he wanted the boys to know that there were still two more games left (against Kerala and Railways). "There's still 6 points to be taken," he said before rushing back into the dressing room.

Up in the gallery, Amjad and the other islanders were speechless. They were so close to rediscovering the joy of home so far across the Arabian Sea. They were devastated but couldn't curse their brethren for ruining their day. As the players made their way out of the ground, the fans stood up and applauded. Tell me, how can you not be romantic about football?