Bagan U-15 team heads for Manchester United Premium Cup

New Delhi, Aug 4 (UNI) As if competing with Arsenal and Athletic Bilbao, besides the hosts, were not good enough, a Mohun Bagan under-15 team heads for the Manchester United Premier Cup (MUPC) with the added incentive of a life time chance of practising with the likes of Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo.

The 14-member Bagan U-15 team will be one of the 20 squads which would vie for honour in the August 8-11 event, arguably the toughest competition in this age category, which saw illustrious clubs like Bayern Munich and Real Madrid failing to make the cut.

''This a great moment of pride just not for Mohun Bagan but Indian football and we, at the All India Football Federation are equally happy. We just pray that the boys pull off a surprise or two there as well,'' AIFF President Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi said here today.

Coach and former international Shyamal Banerjee said the team did not leave any stone unturned and he was confident of a good show at Old Trafford and spending 10 days at Baba Ramdev's Hardwar ashram was part of the preparation.

''The boys are product of the Bagan Academy in Durgapur and throughout the year, we take care of their skills and other aspects of the game. This time we thought they need to work on their concentration and accordingly they were sent to the ashram to learn yoga,'' Mr Banerjee told UNI on the sidelines of the send-off ceremony.

After emerging the national champion, the Bagan youngsters triumphed in the Southeast Asian leg of the tournament as well, beating a Singapore squad 2-0 in the final to book their Manchester ticket.

''To be honest, we didn't imagine we would win there. Making it to the semifinals would have been okay. But that triumph has done a world of good to our morale and I can promise that we would give our best in Manchester,'' captain Sanjoy Boro asserted.

Another incentive to do well in Manchester is the opportunity to practise with the likes of Rooney and Ronaldo.

''MUPC is a Nike tournament conducted in association with Man U and as part of our efforts to push Indian football, we have planned this interaction between the Man U stalwarts and the Indian youngsters,'' Sanjay Gangopadhyay, Managing Director of Nike India said.

Meanwhile, Shyamal Banerjee refuses to predict about his team's chances.

''We are yet to get the draw, which will be released after the opening ceremony on August 7. My target would be to win the first game and I would like think about one game at a time,'' he told UNI.

Squad: Tirthankar Sarkar, Amit Saha, Malswamzuala, Bhaskar Ghosh, Raghunath Murmu, shouvik Chakraborty, Sanjoy Boro (c), Biswadeep Das, Suman Bose, Lalrozama Fanai, Dudipta Banerjee, Rajib Bhattacharjee, Shubhankar Dey, Dipendu Dowary, Lalrinmuana David and Bapi Chowdhury.

Officials: Shyamal Banerjee (coach), Dipak Bera (Physical Trainer) and Debasis Dutta (manager) UNI AY DH DS1548