Bengaluru, As India made its debut at the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup, it was a dream come true for Kajol Hubert Dsouza — and a proud moment for La Liga Football Schools India (LLFS) — a joint project by La Liga and India On Track — with its student being part of the national team.
The 16-year, who has been regularly training at the LLFS Centre in Pune since 2018 was selected for the national team coached by Sweden’s Thomas Dennerby.
At the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup, India are pitted in Group A which also includes Brazil, the USA and Morocco.
The Indian squad will open its campaign against USA on Tuesday (October 11) then play Morocco on October 14 and Brazil on 17t.
The FIFA Under 17 Women’s World Cup is being held at three venues — Bhubaneswar, Margao and Navi Mumbai from October 11-30.
The Blue Tigress will play all their matches at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha.
“It’s 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 La Liga 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,” said Kajol.
Saul Vazquez, Senior Specialist – Football Projects Development, La Liga and In-Charge of LLFS India, said, “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’ll continue to support hers and the other students’ aspirations and wish her all the luck for this U-17 World Cup.”
The LLFS Project was initiated in 2018 and since then has impacted more than 10,000 students in the country. The programme, which is developed and administered by UEFA pro-licensed coaches from Spain, provides access to global football methodology and technical training to students aged between 9 to 15 years all over India.
Furthermore, the programme is also designed to leave a deeper impact on the grassroots level through training of Indian football coaches and administrators of the programmes.