For the 14-year-old Guguloth Soumya, it has been a traumatic phase just hours after being the toast of her team by scoring a couple of goals in the AFC under-14 football championship in Kathmandu.
For, this ninth standard student of Raghava High School in Nizamabad, who was a member of the Indian team which lost to Nepal in the semi-final and was preparing for the play-offs, it was a shocker of the worst kind on Saturday, when she along with her teammates, was hoping against hope to come out of what she says has been the most horrendous span of time she spent at the Dashrath Stadium.
The young striker, who happens to be the first girl ever from either Telangana or AP to represent India in any football event, was mentored since she was just four years by Gottipati Nagaraju.
“We were in tears for most of Saturday. Not sure what news we are going to hear. All our dreams of seeing this girl scale the pedestal of glory in football were hanging in balance. We just believed in destiny and were praying to God to hear some good news,” recalls Nagaraju in a chat with The Hindu . “Soumya’s parents – Gopi and Dhanalakshmi – were sobbing inconsolably on Saturday at my place. We were just not sure how to face the situation because of the Himalayan Tragedy that shook Nepal,” he remarked.
“Thankfully, Telangana Football Association Secretary G.P. Phalguna, who has been constantly monitoring the whole situation, gave us the good news that the entire Indian team was safe around 11.30 p.m. on Saturday night. Then, we heaved a sigh of relief,” the coach pointed out.
“We are grateful to the Union Government and especially to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj who is taking personal care to evacuate all the Indians. She has personally spoken to some of the Indian football team members to extend the desired moral support,” reveals Phalguna.
“With the worst phase over as Soumya is coming to Hyderabad by morning flight on Monday, I will be back to business on the ground,” coach Nagaraju signs off.