It was a dream-come-true moment for 16-year-old Kajol Dsouza as she donned the Indian blue in the nation’s historic appearance at the under-17 FIFA Women’s World Cup match against the USA at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha, and a huge moment for LaLiga Football Schools, which a joint project by LaLiga and India On Track.
The LaLiga Football Schools Project was initiated in 2018 and since then has impacted over 10000 students in India. Kajol is among them, who has regularly been training at the LLFS Centre in Pune since 2018.
“It is an honour of the highest degree for me to be selected for the National Team, and playing in a FIFA World Cup. Football has been my passion since childhood and getting the opportunity to train at LaLiga Football Schools was a dream come true. I’m thankful to my coaches from the Pune centre for imparting their knowledge and supporting me in reaching this milestone,” Kajol said.
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The LLFS Project is designed to leave a deeper impact on the grassroots level through training of Indian football coaches and administrators of the programmes.
“In the four years since we launched this project in India, we’ve seen tremendous talent and skill from youth across different parts of the country. Kajol was one such standout player and we’re elated that she has the opportunity to use her talent and hard work to make a mark for India on the global stage. We will continue to support hers and the other students’ aspirations and wish her all the luck for this U-17 World Cup,” said Saul Vazquez, Senior Specialist – Football Projects Development, LaLiga and In-Charge of LLFS India.
Talking about the World Cup, India lost 0-8 in their opener against the USA. India will take on Morocoo on Friday at the same venue in their second Group A match. India’s final group game will be against Brazil on Monday, October 17.