The Hindu : Sport / Football : Ignatius repents, ready to make a come back

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 24, 2005

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Sport - Football

Ignatius repents, ready to make a come back

A. Vinod

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: He was hailed a hero and feted all across the State when Kerala won the Santosh Trophy last year. But when he found himself ignominiously dropped from the State team for the recent edition of the National football championship in Kochi, Sylvester Ignatius could hardly stomach the insult.

In fact, the 28-year-old did say quite a few unpleasant things, before announcing that he would not be donning the Kerala colours any longer. Ignatius certainly was in an agitated mood. Mostly because he was told that he had been dropped on fitness grounds.

Now, two weeks later, the ace striker is repentant. And is thinking of a comeback if given a chance by the powers that be. "It is only true that I had been very critical then. I was in such a bad mental state. I would have gone mad, if I had kept quiet. But now, having thought about it over the past few days, I think that I should have restrained myself from taking such a hasty decision. I am sure that I have quite a few years of football left in me," said the SBT player in an exclusive interview to The Hindu here on Wednesday.

Sad news

Though having left the Kerala camp in a huff after his surprise omission from the State squad, Ignatius said that he had been following the championship closely and praying for his team-mates. "I was at the church near to my home and praying for the Kerala team's success in the semifinal against Maharashtra. We were having an important festival at the church and I was there almost for the whole day. So I could not watch the live telecast of the match. But my mind was at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in Kochi. It was my friend Abu who called me when Maharashtra surged ahead. I couldn't believe it as another friend of mine had told me just a few minutes earlier that Kerala was playing a speedy game and was enjoying a dominant position over Maharashtra."

"Then, I rang up a friend in the media who confirmed the news. I was quite sad. Perhaps, it has made me to rethink about the whole issue. On the next day, I saw the repeat telecast and was overtaken by sadness having seen how my team-mates had given their best to win against Maharashtra and get into the final."

Looking forward

The forward, who has scored more than a 100 goals for SBT, said he has already started training and was looking forward to taking part in the Rovers Cup. "I have started practice from Monday, hoping to hit form by the time of the Rovers Cup."

Hailing from Vettucaud, a fishing village on the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram, Ignatius had come through the junior ranks before making an impact at the senior level. He was Kerala's leading scorer with six goals in the Santosh Trophy at Thrissur in 2000, and was the State's saviour against Punjab (scoring the golden goal) in New Delhi last year. A good player upfront, Ignatius has always been opportunistic and quick with the ball.

His omission from the Kerala team had undoubtedly sent shock waves across the State. But the news that he is willing to return should be music to the ears of his vast legion of followers. Especially as it comes at a time when football fans all over Kerala are coming to terms with semifinal defeat that the State team had suffered in Kochi, albeit slowly.

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