Siraj Patca's brace took Fazlani Academy, Mazgaon to the quarter-finals of the Mumbai Schools Sports Association-conducted Boys under-16 Division IV inter-school football tournament played at Azad Maidan on Saturday.
Siraj Patca's brace took Fazlani Academy, Mazgaon to the quarter-finals of the Mumbai Schools Sports Association-conducted Boys under-16 Division IV inter-school football tournament played at Azad Maidan on Saturday. He converted a volley and then a penalty, both in the first-half, as they overcame Lady Engineer, Mulund 2-0 in a do-or-die encounter.
However, Siraj had mixed feelings despite a match-winning performance that got his side through the pre-quarters. Siraj was saddened by the fact that his father couldn't see him score the two goals. Unfortunately, he also missed out Siraj's strike in the previous game against St Gregorious, Chembur. "He has been present for all my matches but for this one. I'm sad he couldn't see me score. In the last game also I scored on the far side and he couldn't see me in action properly. This one's for him though," said Siraj dedicating the goals to his father.u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0
Interestingly, the 14-year-old striker got into football by default. He started playing the game when he was eight but that too only in bylanes and never dreamt of representing his school. "I had to choose a sport in school and football selections were the first to take place. I could have well been a handball player," Siraj revealed.
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