The meagre family income pulled through by his vegetable-seller mother has Jeakson Singh worried quite often but the midfielder shoves it away by focussing on the pride he feels in representing India at the FIFA under-17 World Cup.
India's under-17 midfielder Jeakson Singh (right) during a training session in New Delhi recently
Jeakson, a defensive midfielder in the 21-member Indian team, hails from Haokha Mamang village in Manipur's Thoubal district. His father Konthoujam Deben Singh suffered a stroke in 2015 and had to leave his job with the Manipur police. His family is now run dependent on the meagre income brought by his mother from selling vegetables at the Khwairamband Bazar in Imphal, 25km from her home.
"When I left home for Chandigarh in 2010, it was alright. But my father suffered a heart attack (in 2015) and cannot properly look after the family now. My mother sells vegetables at Khwairamband Bazar (in Imphal) with my maternal grandmother and that is the family income as my father had to leave the job when his illness started," Jeakson said.
"I have been dreaming of playing for India since childhood and my life has changed. I am looking forward to wearing the India jersey in this World Cup. But I am worried about the condition of my family," Jeakson, 16, said.
Facing rejection
Not just the financial issues, Jeakson had also had to face the disappointment of being rejected by the national selectors in 2015 when he was with an academy in Chandigarh. "I was with the Chandigarh Football Academy and I appeared for the trials in 2015 but could not make it to the India team. I did not lose heart and kept on thinking that I will one day make it to the Indian team," Jeakson said.
Jeakson then joined Minerva, another Chandigarh-based academy. He then went on to lead Minerva to the national U-15 and U-16 titles in 2016 and 2017. That led to Minerva being invited to play friendly against the India U-17 team in Goa in March. "The chance came when Minerva was invited to play friendly in Goa against the India U-17 side. We beat India U-17 team 1-0 and after that I and three others from Minerva were selected for the India camp at the AIFF Academy in Goa," said the defensive midfielder.
Proving people wrong
Jeakson wants his side will show the world that they can also compete against the best in the world. "People think the level of Indian football is very low, that is a wrong notion. We are not that low. We want to show the world that we can play at the highest level," he said.
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