Orissa football prodigy to live his German dream

11-year-old Chandan Nayak all set to train at Bayern Munich

Decks are cleared for Orissa’s 11-year-old football prodigy Chandan Nayak’s dream journey to Germany and train for the iconic club — Bayern Munich.

Bhubaneswar mayor Ananta Narayan Jena told this newspaper on Tuesday that all necessary documents, including his passport and visa, has been organised for his journey on Thursday.

Hailing from a poor family, the budding footballer, who was deserted by his father at a very tender age, faced a lot of hurdles to obtain a passport as he did not have a birth certificate, a must-have document needed for the travel permit as a proof of age. Mr Jena helped him obtain the certificate which enabled him to get the passport.

Born in Sabar Sahi slum in the city, Chandan was selected to train at Bayern Munich at an all-India competition at Pune recently.

“Chandan is a born footballer. I noticed him when he used to visit Kalinga Stadium along with his friends to watch the footballers undergoing training there. After the players returned to their rooms following practice sessions in the evening, he used to pick up the ball from the ground and play with it. He displayed some signature tricks of legendary footballers such as Lionel Messi and Maradona. I was quite impressed by his skill and decided to groom him,” said Chandan’s coach, Jayadev Mohapatra.

Chandan’s journey from Sabar Sahi slum to Bayern Munich, one of the renowned European clubs, has not been a dream run. His mother, Duhita Nayak, who lives in a polythene-clad shanty, works as domestic help. Apart from Chandan’s poor economic background, his age also stood in the way.

“Children between the ages of 14 and 16 are allowed to train in Bayern Munich. However, Chandan’s spectacular performance in the selection camp at Pune impressed everyone, including Sunil Chhetri, the club’s head selector for India,” said the coach.

Chandan will get training at Bayern Munich for two months.

“My dream is to play for India one day. I thank my coach and my mother for their unstinted support to me,” said Chandan, who idolises the legendary Lionel Messi of Argentina as his inspiration.

Founded in 1902, the Bayern Munich Junior Team has produced some of Europe’s top footballers including Thomas Müller, Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Holger Badstuber, Joshua Kimmich and Owen Hargreaves.