Gurgaon is set to turn from an industrial and corporate hub to a centre for footballing excellence on March 10th when the last leg of Neymar Jr’s Five tournament takes place in Cyber Hub.
Young footballers and the sport’s aficionados from all over the country will descend into Gurgaon to witness what promises to be a festival of elasticos, step-overs and Pogdabs. The Neymar Jr.’s Five is one of the most popular five-a-side tournaments in the world and has an outreach of 47 countries, which are spread across six continents.
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It attracts football talent from around the globe in a format that combines skill, finesse, flair, thrills and entertainment. As far as this edition of the tournament is concerned, qualifications for the national finals in India were held during the second half of 2016.
Now, the tournament has boiled down to 18 teams who will be competing for the top prize, which is a chance to represent India at the World Final, which is going to be held at the Instituto Projeto Neymar Jr in Praia Grande, Brazil. The biggest prize, however, will not be the trophy but players getting a chance at meeting footballing hero Neymar Jr. in his own backyard.
Brazil and Barcelona superstar Neymar Jr., who is on his way to becoming one of the greatest footballers of all time, spoke about how one should always enjoy the game, irrespective of the result. “The advice I’d give [the countries that are participating] is to be happy, no matter the result, no matter how hard it is. I hope they can have fun with Neymar Jr’s Five, because this is the most important – be happy, have fun and I wish them all the best again,” he said.
After the Dream Team from Bangalore became the Winning5 in the first ever edition of Neymar Jr’s Five qualifiers, the hype around the tournament had increased exponentially, garnering interesting in innumerable cities.
Also read: Neymar Jr reveals future hopes and ambitions after turning 25
Teams across the country flocked to centres in cities like Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Mumbai, Kolkata and Kochi to showcase their skills and get a shot at being a part of world football’s five-a-side crème de la crème.
The qualifiers were divided into two categories, namely Corporate Leg and City Qualifiers, from which six and 12 teams, respectively, made it to the final 18.
Qualifying stages saw some stunning football action, which spoke volumes about the quality of talent around the country. Players from around the country, channelizing their inner Lionel Messis, and Cristiano Ronaldos, attempted to enthral the audiences while trying to make their teams win.
The USP of this tournament is its exhilarating format, which is fast, demanding and entertaining. It is sort of a chess like format that involves elimination of players every time their team concedes a goal.
A lot of games saw a two-member team fight back against a five-member side.
Since the game lasts for only 10 minutes, the margin for error is really narrow, something that makes it totally unpredictable. While the teams play exhilarating football, some of them had rather interesting names, such as Joga Bonito, Hum Aapke Hai Kaun and Famous 5.
Luckily for everyone, those three teams have made it to the final 18 and will be in the running for the top prize. The format makes it mandatory for players to stay on their feet, never lose concentration and go for the jugular to outsmart opponents consistently.
Popular Austrian beverage firm Red Bull is the main organiser of the event and it is, in true symbolic style, giving a group of youngsters from India a chance to fly to Brazil using victory wings.
The beverage is highly popular among the urban youth in the country, including and especially those related to sport. Winning the prize is not going to be easy for any team as the quality on display is going to be really high.
Red Bull Neymar Jr’s has received a tremendous response and the finals in Gurgaon are likely to see the success reach its zenith along with enthralling fans who turn up. Apart from it being a really exciting football tournament with a lot of talent on display, Neymar Jr.’s Five has shown how popular the sport has become in the country.
Also, the Five-a-Side format is a great advertisement for the sport, making it popular across India. The past decade has been great for the progress of Indian football and more people are following it.
Neymar Jr’s Five tournament is a symbol of India’s growing love for football and come 10th March in Gurgaon, we are set to see a manifestation of the same.
