Talent hunt by the Eagle-eyed

KOCHI: Goal 2012, the inter-collegiate tournament organised by The New Indian Express, is turning into a valuable venue for talent-hunters.Major clubs in the state hope that the tournament will help them find some quality players. Eagles F C Kochin, the second division club in Indian football, are also particularly interested in the tournament. “Talent search is a real problem in Kerala. Football tournaments are the major source for finding young players, Goal 2012 might become one of the major talent search spots in the future,” said Sanal Mather, Eagles F C team cordinator.Eagles F C, the professional football club from Kochi is on a mission to qualify for the prestigious football league in India, I-League. The team will play in the I-League second division in Assam in February to qualify for the I-League first division.  The club has a legacy of 57 years. It was started in 1955 at the St Albert’s High School by a group of football loving students and their mathematics teacher, N J Joseph under the club name, Ernakulam Eagles. Fr. Varghese Chellat, the manager of the school at that time became the first president of the club while an eighth standard boy, K M Imbayi Mather became the secretary of the team.  K M Imbayi Mather now holds the post of Kerala Football Association President.  The club lost its glory in the late 90s as the members got busy with their other professional commitments. However from 2010 they started taking steps towards reclaiming the club’s past glory and renamed Ernakulam Eagles as Eagles F C Kochin and entered the professional league. The team is now owned by three business groups; Mather-Eastern-Ziqitza. Eagles F C qualified for the Second Division football league in 2011, but failed to reach the first division football league in India.  They also qualified for the Second Division league in 2012 and are awaiting their debut in the first division league this time.  Former Indian international, Jo Paul Ancheri is coaching the team. It has three foreign and some good football players from other states. Of course, there are talented players from Kerala as well.