Chennai: Two of the 20-member Tamil Nadu squad for the Santosh Trophy south zone qualifiers are products of Sports Authority of India’s Chennai centre. SAI coach M. Narayanamoorthy is confident that the contributions of defender Wayne D’Silva and forward H. Ameerudeen would be valuable to Tamil Nadu.
Wayne, who is now with Indian Bank, is almost a certainty in the main XI after the pullout of the first-choice central defender R. Naveen Kumar. Ameer, who will turn out for Hindustan Eagles in the senior division, will also get some playing time as he is one of the two forwards in the squad.
Narayanamoorthy on his boys:
Wayne D’Silva: I’m delighted that he will be making his Santosh Trophy debut. He should have played for Tamil Nadu much earlier.
It’s good in a way because Wayne is more experienced now. He is an all-round defender. Above all, I like his leadership qualities. He is a great communicator on the pitch. Wayne is a commanding defender.
He hates losing. Another impressive quality of the boy is his fearlessness. He wouldn’t be intimidated by opponents’ reputation and physical strength. If his team needs a goal, he would foray forward to initiate attacks.
I have known Wayne since he was a third standard student at St. Patrick’s. Even as a young boy his maturity was impressive. He made a few goal-line saves in his first match in the CFA senior division league. Wayne, whose fighting spirit is infectious, was originally a left back and I asked him to move to a central role in defence after spotting his ability to galvanise the back line. He is one of the most disciplined and hard working boys I have trained. Wayne’s reading of the game is exemplary and I’m sure he will serve Tamil Nadu with distinction.
H. Ameerudeen: He is a native of Thanjavur. I was so impressed with his potential that I played him for SAI without conducting trials. Ameer is a natural forward and he also works hard every day to sharpen his shooting skills. His dedication is total. Ameer led SAI admirably in the CFA senior division league last season. He was very close to the players and would conduct team meetings on his own. His inputs were valuable for me. Ameer is a team man to the core.
With Tamil Nadu struggling to find quality strikers, Ameer has a golden chance to cement his place in the state team. All top forwards have an uncanny anticipation inside the box and Ameer also has the instinct to know where he would get the ball.
The striker’s biggest asset is his ability to beat the goalkeeper from outside the box. When he sniffs a chance, he would go for goal from any distance. Ameer scored a sensational goal against ICF in the senior division two seasons ago almost from the half-line.
I have also seen him do the same in an inter-university match. I feel the time has come for Ameer, who will be playing in his second Santosh Trophy, to shine for Tamil Nadu.
