On October 26, one footballer made headlines in the citadel of cricket, Mumbai. No, not Thierry Henry who was then on a visit to India. While Henry held Mumbai spellbound, in nearby Pune, a young Indian footballer, Mohammad Ashique Kuruniyan was making all the right noises.
The FC Pune City youth product has been selected by Spanish club Villarreal to play for their third team on loan. In La Liga, Villarreal are fourth, behind Real Madrid, Sevilla and Barcelona.
Ashique is not the first Indian to make it to Europe. Recently, Ishan Pandita signed a professional contract with CD Leganes in La Liga. Current India skipper Sunil Chhetri earlier played for Sporting Lisbon B. However, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu remains the only Indian to have made a mark in Europe.
Ashique has all the potential. He has played for India U-18 and U-19, also helped Pune FC U-19 team finish runners-up in the 2014-15 I-League season. Pune FC’s academy has now been acquired by the ISL club.
The 19-year-old spoke to this newspaper about his football journey, which began with the Vision India football programme in Malappuram.
“I was in sixth standard when I gave a trial for Vision India. I was selected and trained with them for three years, after which I moved to Pune FC and later joined their academy,” said Kuruniyan.
The teenager hopes to improve his game and has set himself the ambitious target of moving up from Villarreal’s third team .
“I will have an opportunity to play with high quality players at Villarreal. It is also an opportunity to train under some of the best coaches, I want to learn as much as I can.
“My plan is to improve my game and move up from Villarreal’s third team. I want to improve the technical aspect of my game and training with Villarreal will also allow me to improve my decision making.”
Most people in India love cricket, but not Ashique.
“I don’t watch a lot of cricket and I don’t like it that much. Since my childhood, I have always wanted to become a footballer,” he says.
The FC Pune City boy, who comes from a humble background claims his family had always backed him.
“My parents have always supported my decision to play football, all of them are very happy for me.”
Kuruniyan is a huge fan of Barcelona player Lionel Messi and hopes to see him playing in Spain.
“I am hoping to see few La Liga games in Spain. I am a fan of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo,” he said.
