Mumbai: Conscient Football (CF), an initiative dedicated to raising the bar of grassroots level football in India launched one of the biggest private academy tournaments in Mumbai this weekend. The Conscient World Cup 2018 (CWC), a one of its kind tournament is a platform where all the elite academies will prove their mettle in the Mumbai Football circuit. Elite Academies like Bhaichung Bhutia Football School (BBFS), Boca Juniors Football School, Kopana, Valiente FC, SFA etc. Formerly known as the Friendly World Cup, CWC intends to give the players exposure to different playing styles and game philosophies. It aims at bringing together more than 850 players across 66 teams in 8 different age categories. These players will compete over the course of two weekends to earn the title, “Champions of Mumbai”. CWC will be played on the 2nd, 3rd, 9th, 10th of June 2018 at the FCBEscola Andheri Center and the FCBEscola South Mumbai Center. CWC is being built up to provide a blueprint for a national league for elite academies in the future.
The tournament was declared open by sending yellow and black balloons in the air. It was an exciting start to the Tournament as teams like GIFA and the home team FCBEscola took an early advantage in the tournament with their winning performances across all age categories. The morning was dominated by several teams as the U8 and the U12 category had some tough competition. The match between FCBE and Bhaichung Bhutia Football School had a particularly nerve-wracking effect and an edge of the seat action that drove the crowd nuts as parents reveled in the action.
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The match saw some brilliant football and equally good comebacks. The evening was however taken over by the GIFA U10 team and the FCBEscola U10 team who provided some of the excitement in the evening with brilliant team performances. The sheer domination of both the teams sets up an epic finale when these two teams meet in the knockout stages. However, The highlight of the day was the FCBESCOLA U19 Girls team which was plagued with injuries and had to play with 5 players in 7 a side matches. The team turned both the games on the head with skill, talent and sheer power of will. They won the first match 4-3, however, the next match did not start well for them due to an immediate deficit of 2-0 and the injury of another player, who decided to play through pain. Finally, the match turned as FCBEscola pulled a goal back, the team put in great efforts to win the game 5v7. However, as luck would have it, they couldn’t finish in critical situations and failed to win the game. The Day 1 ended just in time before Mumbai was hit with its first showers of the season.
Day 2 of the tournament started with a delay due to overnight rains which made the pitches slippery. However, once the tournament resumed the excitement tripled. The day started off with U12 and U19 Girls teams showing some amazing talent and skill. The Soccer Academy Girls team won their match against U19 FCBEscola Girls team 2-1. They exhibited how mature and patient gameplay can beat even the most stubborn defence with a nail-biting winner in the last second of the match. U14 and U10 teams were in action during the second half of the day. The tables turned in the U10 group as GIFA got some tough competition from the Western United India team who scored an epic leveller in the dying moments of the match to secure a draw. In the other group, the FCBEscola Blau team continued their dominance and scored 4 goals in the first 8 minutes of their match against CFCI.
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However, the U14 category was where the real action was happening. SFA, FCBEscola Blau, and the CFCI teams dominated the day with each winning all their matches until CFCI and FCBEscola faced each other. Under the floodlit pitch of FCBEscola Andheri Center, the most awaited match of the day did not disappoint with both teams displaying immense skill, speed, and talent. Both teams had plenty of chances but struggled to break the deadlock in the first half. Finally, the FCBEscola Blau team scored in the dying minutes of the first half with a breathtaking move that could become the envy of the tournament. After that, the home team started to dominate and did not allow the CFCI team to get back in the game. In the other group, SFA continued their rampant form as they won all their matches and became the team to defeat in the U14 age category. Teams have started praying for the upcoming week to finish as fast as possible as the anticipation has increased and they cannot wait to see the exhibition of some of the best football in the city.