Family inspires Raos run to the top Narendra Rao’s football pedigree is evident.His grandfather Mira Sami is a former Fiji international while his father Bimal Sami, was a member of the 1988 squad that famously defeated Australia 1-0. With that kind of background he was sure to fall into a successful career in football – so it comes as no surprise that he’s one of the senior members of the Fiji U-20 national team in search of securing a berth at the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup. While just 18 years old himself, Rao is a veteran of the squad, having competed in the OFC U-20 Championship in 2013. The memory of which still haunts him. “We came so close. We beat all the other teams and we played our third match, I remember, against New Zealand. It was a do-or-die situation,” he recalls. “At that stage the coaches had told us if we beat New Zealand we were through to the World Cup.” Despite the full support of the home crowd at Churchill Park in Lautoka, Fiji the team’s hopes of reaching their first FIFA tournament were dashed by a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of eventual qualifiers New Zealand. “After that game we felt so bad. We were all crying, tears were falling from everyone and all the players were hugging each other. It was so upsetting. “We beat Papua New Guinea 2-1 in the final game but it was already too late. I felt so bad when I went back home but I still couldn’t come to grips with the fact we lost because we had very very good players who are now playing for big clubs in Fiji.” Speaking of big clubs, Rao has been brought up in the best environment for a budding young Fijian footballer – with Ba FC. “I started playing for the Ba U-10 and development side and moved through the ranks – U-12, U-15 through to U-16.” He was soon included in the Ba senior squad and found himself surrounded by his idols – but his debut was one tinged with sadness. Just ahead of his first Fiji FA tournament Rao lost his grandfather – a man who had been a role model in both life and football. “I went to his funeral and then I went to play in the tournament,” he says. While it was hard to concentrate on the competition, Rao thought only of making his family proud and with his performances at local and regional level he’s bound to have achieved that. But he’s not ready to stop. “This is like a second chance for me, and for my teammates,” he says. “There is a lot of pressure in our team because we are the most experienced team in this year’s U-20 qualifiers. It’s a challenge for us to do it all again. I know we can only promise to do our best, and leave the rest to God.” Fiji will open their OFC U-20 Championship campaign tomorrow campaign, and the tournament itself, against American Samoa at 2.30pm at ANZ Stadium in Suva, Fiji. That match will be followed by Vanuatu vs. New Caledonia at 5pm before Solomon Islands take on Papua New Guinea at 7.30pm. Source: Fiji FA Media
Posted on: Thu, 22 May 2014 04:19:56 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015