I am excited about sharing the tunnel with Coutinho and Neymar

Nathania John K, an 11-year-old aspiring footballer from Kotagiri, will be sharing the tunnel with Neymar, Coutinho, Marcelo and many other footballers on June 22, when Brazil takes on Costa Rica, at the Saint Petersburg Stadium in Russia. She will be marching with the players as the Official Match Ball Carrier (OMBC). This is the first time that India will be sending two OMBCs for the football World Cup (the other being 10-year-old Rishi Tej from Karnataka).We caught up with Nathania, her parents, and coach, and asked them about this proud moment.
“ I a m extremely happy and proud to be representing India and the girls of this country. I am excited to be there for the game where I will be in the tunnel along with such famous players like Coutinho and Neymar. This is a dream come true for any football fan. I will be walking out with them to the middle of the pitch. I couldn’t have asked for more,” says Nathania on being the first girl OMBC from India.
Nathania’s mother Annie Jacob is elated. “I am extremely happy and am very proud of her. She has shown an inclination towards football from a very young age. She used to play with her cousins and the neighbourhood boys in Kotagiri. Slowly, she started to dribble very well, and we realised she was naturally good at the game. That was when we decided to let her completely focus on the sport, and we put her in a boarding school (Rishi Valley) at Madanapalle, Andhra Pradesh. Since then she’s been completely into football. Even her teachers used to appreciate her skills. That’s how it all started,” says Annie.
“She is a huge fan of Lionel Messi, she has the jersey number (10), paper cut-outs and what not! Whenever she comes back home, she sits up late into the night and watches football matches. She learnt most of the skills by herself — she watches videos online and learns new tricks. She also learnt free-style football skills by watching online videos. This April, we took her to Coimbatore for a camp organised by First Kick School of Soccer, which was held at Area 641, where they have an artificial turf. While she was training there, we got a message from one of our friends about this opportunity for footballers between the age group of 10 and
14. So, we uploaded a 30-second video of her trying out tricks, dribbling, etc, and sent it to the organisers. Then she was selected for the trials being held in New Delhi. Only then did we realise that she was the only girl selected from the 50 children who were shortlisted from the 1600 children who had applied. A total of 64 school children from all over the world have been selected as OMBCs for the FIFA WC, and of them, two are from India,” Annie shares.
She continues, “There was juggling, dribbling, penalty shoots and an interview in the trials; Sunil Chhetri was one of the judges and eventually, she was selected as one of the OMBCs.
From the 50, six were selected. Two of them as OMBCs and the other four were given an opportunity to visit Russia with one guardian to watch the World Cup. Nathania getting selected as OMBC has also opened the window for young girls to take up football. Her selection sends a strong message that girls, too can play the game. I hope this breaks all the stereotypes and parents let girls play football.”
Mathew John, Nathania’s father, adds, “Football is usually not regarded as a girls’ domain, and here, too, she plays only with the boys. Every evening she makes sure all of them from the locality come out and play with her. She breathes, eats and sleeps football. Initially, it was difficult and we were a little worried about her playing football, but she has shown what children can do if given the freedom and platform to express their talent.”
Saravanan D of First Kick School of Soccer, who trained Nathania in the Coimbatore camp says, “She plays like the boys. In the next two or three years, she will be at the peak of her career; she can easily outplay boys of her age. It was easy to teach her. I can guarantee that she will be playing in the Indian team very soon. I have asked her mother to let her focus on football. She plays with U-14 boys here, though she’s only 11 years old.”
Nathania’s only aim is to be a professional footballer. “I want to go abroad for professional training and come back to play for India. Apart from my parents, my school and the coaches have been of great support to me. My friends in Kotagiri, too, have always encouraged me to play football.”