A dash of talent from the city
Hyderabad striker gets licence to shoot in Europe
Having hurtled downhill over the years, Hyderabad football has one player looking up now. At 6-feet-2, he’s surely standing tall... and is eager to touch the sky. Meet Aadarsh Narayanapuram, an 18year-old who has broken out of the box and dazzled with his skills as a centre forward to secure a European player licence in the junior category.
The youngster is currently scoring goals for CD Olympic de Xativa, a third division club in Valencia, Spain. He has five from eight games, and is yearning for more. “It’s a pretty good start but I need to build on it. I want to improve overall as a player, be good at passing, shooting,” he says.
And just like the lines of attack on the field, Aadarsh seems to have chalked out the path to his greater goal. “Right now, I need to play as many matches as possible in Europe and get much experience to grow as a player,” he informs before revealing the bigger picture. “My long term goal is to play for Hyderabad FC. I was very happy to see the team do so well in the ISL... it’s unfortunate that they could not make the semifinals after having come so close just a couple of days ago. I always wanted my city to play in the top league of the country and it was amazing to see HFC right up there. I want to perform for Hyderabad and hopefully India in the future.”
Inspiration, there’s aplenty around. “I had gone to the Barcelona vs Levante match (in the Spanish top division) at the latter’s home ground and got to see greats like Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Antoine Griezman and Ousmane Dembele play. It was a very proud moment, one hell of an opportunity for me. The best footballer in the world was right in front of me, dribbling past players and scoring goals. I actually was in tears watching Messi play,” Aadarsh beams.
However, his favourite player is Harry Kane of English club Tottenham Hotspur. “The reason why I look up to him is because my game style is somewhat similar to his. I follow him closely, look at every aspect of his play, his specialities in situations and try to adapt them to my position, which suits me physically as well mentally,” reasons the towering teen.
Aadarsh has outshone peers to get to where he is right now. He was the only one from south India from the seven or eight players picked from among hundreds who had turned up for the Spanish club’s selections that ran for about two months in Bengaluru. In fact, he made the cut for a German academy (DFI — Deutsches Fussball Internat) in Munich as well. “If I went to Germany I would’ve been playing for an academy but in Spain I’m playing for a club which would help me build my profile, which is why I chose this country,” he explains.
He has also attended some camps in the United Kingdom, including the Elite Football Academy of Manchester United Soccer training school in Peterborough and the Arsenal Exsportise Soccer Academy in Charter House, where he was awarded the best player among 150 trainees.
In fact, it was the Arsenal camp conducted at his school (Oakridge) in Hyderabad that ignited the spark when he was in sixth grade. “I just took part in it as I was passionate about all sports cricket, basketball, swimming, everything. The coaches there were impressed by the way I was playing and encouraged me to take up football. That’s when I started kicking the ball seriously,” Aadarsh recalls.
Later, he trained at the Pullela Gopichand Academy and Hyderabad Football Academy before playing for I-League club Fateh Hyderabad’s Under 15 team.
In all this, support from the family has been paramount. Aadarsh’s father N. Sudhakar Rao, Principal of the Culinary Academy of India in Begumpet, has played a supreme role in dishing out necessary ingredients for his son to savour his own taste and chase his dreams. It shouldn’t be long before he relishes the lad’s success.