THE "INTERNATIONAL INDIAN FOOTBALL SERIES 2002" IN GERMANY

The IFSC - Germany branch organised the first-ever "International Indian Football Series 2002".

India U17 and Bollywood show inspire the spectators
report by Chris Punnakkattu Daniel

The "International Indian Football Series 2002" and the "Festival of Indian Sports" in Remscheid, Germany became a top event in football and entertainment. Especially the tournament winners, the Indian U17 national team, left a big impression to the spectators: Top football.

The IIFS 2002 - four team - tournament, with the participants India U17 national team, U17 IFSC Germany, Mahal Kalsa FC (England) and a Remscheid city-selection, in the Reinshagen stadium was from sporty view a big success for the tournament organisers. The spectators were able to see technically and tactically high-quality football. After the official opening these four teams met one another, in order to determine the winner of the tournament. The spectators were able to make themselve a picture on Indian football. The presentation on the pitch earned the descriptor "worth seeing". Credits for this to the Indian U17 national team, which used this tournament as preparation for the Asian U17 Championships.

Remscheids mayor Fred Schulz: "They play wonderful technical football. Great to watch them." Indian High-Commisioner Tsewang Topden said: "We have very good players. Technically comparable with the Brazilians. We must become better in analyzing the matches - then we can welcome the Indian national team to a World Cup soon, perhaps even here in Germany in 2006."

The IIFS 2002 - four team - tournament was followed by a charity match between the IFSC - Germany Seniors team and the Hastener TV. The team from Remscheid won this match 10:1.
We still have a long way to go...

In the evening culture and entertainment were in the spotlight: live acts and modern Indian Bollywood dances set absolute highlights at the "Festival of Indian Sports". While the TV was broadcasting live, the Indian dance group "Rasa" from Northrhine-Westphalia opened the festival with a brilliant performance of "Aa Tayaar Hoja" from the Indsian film "Ashoka". Especially arriving from the Netherlands the Indian dance group "DIYA" (Dutch-Indian Youth Association) impressed with single and group dances from "Devdas" ("Maar Dala") and "Monsoon Wedding" ("Chunari Chunari"). Another delicacy was the young Indian group "JBC" (Jawaan Bharati Center) from Berlin who presented more than a colourful performance with "Dholi Taro", "Dholna" and a Bollywood-Mix. The moodful final of the evening had been set by Hiphop and Reggae, represented by the Indian community rapper Diptesh MC and the German-Tamil live band J-Ragam. J-Ragam had especially interrupted their CD production for this event and performed a special mixture of reggae, pop, flavoured with Indian influences.
The whole evening program was moderated by charming Mona Sharma and Tobias Grote-Beverborg. Mona Sharma has been popular from TV shows like "Switch" (Pro7), "Lollo Rosso" and "Olli, Tiere, Sensationen".

The "International Indian Football Series 2002" was concluded by a 6 A-Side tournament on Sunday.

This event was organised by IFSC - Germany, the Indo - German Cultural Club Remscheid and the co-organisers IndianFootball.Com (India's Premier Football Site) and theInder.net (Germany’s biggest Indian Online-Community). Furthermore there was great support from the City of Remscheid, the Sports Council of Remscheid and the entertainment partner fusionbeat.