Unfortunately eliminated, but Delhi Dynamos leave on a high

A number of Indian footballers revived their careers in this ISL in a city that turned its back on them. The contrast in quality on and off the pitch was for everyone to see.

The 20-year-old Rupert Nongrum cried inconsolably as Amoes Do embraced his baby-faced teammate. Two yards away, Milan Singh broke down on the shoulders of assistant coach Shakti Chauhan. Simone Barone, the Italian World Cup winner, was no exception, returning to the dressing-room with his eyes moist while Anas Edathodika had to be stretchered off. Kean Lewis looked the strongest of them mentally, taking the defeat in his stride.

This was a snapshot of the Delhi Dynamos squad after their loss to Kerala Blasters, which once again reminded how brutal the ‘beautiful game’ can be to the professionals involved. The dark horses of the competition, who had scored at least eleven goals more than any other semi-finalists in the group stage, bowed out after 120 minutes of intense action and a cruel shoot-out.

However, not many had predicted that they would come this far. It was a team made of young Indian footballers with a couple of exceptions and Gianluca Zambrotta gave the youngsters ample opportunities to prove themselves. The rookies, who had rarely been handed such big responsibilities, tried to write their own fairytale and in two and a half months, came agonizingly close to appearing at the summit clash.

The going was not easy for them even a few months ago. Kean had to sit out for the majority of the previous I-League season, while Anas didn’t have a club. After his impressive Pailan Arrows days, Milan Singh’s career was looking off-the-track. Souvik Chakrabarti and Konsham Singh had both enjoyed regular action but were turned into unorthodox full-backs at short notice.

All of them rose to the challenge this term, aided prominently by the club’s foreign contingent that provided the much-needed support. Under Zambrotta’s tutelage, they excelled in most departments and their on-field decision making became astonishingly crisp. That improvement was evident in the way the team led by some distance in the charts of goal-scoring and shots-on-target.

This was a group of youngsters who punched much above their weight, playing second fiddle to their in-form foreign contingent. They looked matured, took equal share of the responsibilities rubbing shoulders with the likes of Florent Malouda, Marcelinho et al.

However, when the big hour of glory beckoned the side on Wednesday night, they were not called into action. Malouda, Bruno Pelissari and Memo all missed their spot-kicks, as the youngsters looked on from the half-way line with disbelief. Souvik Chakrabarti was his usual humble self, walking up first to the former Chelsea star while the others also were extremely supportive with the ones who failed to hit the target from 12 yards out. It showed pretty well how comfortable they were in the few months as part of the Dynamos family.

But before that, it was another of those nights where the capital’s nonchalance to the team’s fortunes was evident. Even though the home team has arguably played the most eye-catching brand of football amongst all teams, the city had turned its back to the team. More often than not, fans of the away sides have outnumbered the Dynamos fans, and even though freebies like club flags were distributed, it didn’t help.

Add to that the cheap efforts to stoke fanaticism among the spectators. The public address system blared the below-the-belt chant of ‘Lungi Phategi’ before cheering for a certain ‘Delhi FC’ who were not playing that evening and often made awkward sounds on the microphone to add to the clamour. The pinnacle of this mindless shouting was reached after the 90 minute whistle, when the DJ shouted ‘Dilli Jeet Gayi’ (Delhi has won) even though the match was poised at 2-2 on aggregate. The whole sideshow thrived on such naivety that it seemed to be a major distraction for the ones who gathered to watch a game of football.

At 11 PM, when the Kerala Blasters team-bus left the stadium, many passionate fans stood at the main gate to cheer for their heroes who enthusiastically waved their hands. Five minutes later, the Dynamos bus also made its way through the same path but there were few to bid them adieu. The city didn’t deserve the heroes it got, as much as the youngsters didn’t deserve the anti-climactic end that was in store for them.