Talented striker, who endured intense pre-match nerves, scores two goals for Arya Vidya Mandir (Juhu)
Advaita De of Arya Vidya Mandir (left) dribbles past Samrudhi Kudalkar of Gokuldham during the MSSA inter-school U-16 Division-1 match at Cooperage ground yesterday. Pic /Suresh Karkera
Arya Vidya Mandir's (Juhu) young striker Advaita De, 14, was low on confidence as the team were preparing to warm up and coach Desmond D'Souza knew it.
But words of encouragement from the coach had an immediate calming effect on the young striker, who was more relaxed on the field and struck two goals which contributed to a 4-0 win against Gokuldham (Goregaon) in a girls' U-16 Division-I Group-D league match of the MSSA inter-school football tournament yesterday. Sai Sankhe scored the other two goals in the match held at the Cooperage.
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Good support
Advaita, who made the transition from the junior (U-14) to the senior team this season, received good support from her teammates and did not take much time to settle down. In the 12th minute, she calmly put the finishing touches after Nainika Agarwal had done the spadework with a fine run from the left.
Satisfying performance
"I was extremely nervous and had given up on the game as I was not expecting to do well. But in the end, I was satisfied with my performance," said Advaita, who was inspired by her father Arijita to play football. "I would also like to thank my teammates for the support."
The talented Advaita who continued to grow in confidence showed excellent ball control and dribbling skills as she hit the target again. Picking up a pass just inside the rival defence, Advaita launched into a solo run past a couple of rival defenders before scoring her second and the school's third goal.
Room for improvement
"My strengths are speed and dribbling which helped to score my second goal. I only lack stamina and I am keen to work on improving my endurance levels," admitted Advaita, who has started training in kick-boxing and eager to master the sport as she is keen to participate in open competitions.
In other matches, Bai Avabai Petit blanked Aditya Birla (Tardeo) 4-0 with strikes from Zinta Avari and Danaisha Bacha, both scoring a brace of goals each.
Meanwhile, MIG (Borivli) overcame Lakshdham (Goregaon) 2-0. Tracy Monis and Eliezer Pais were on target with a goal each for the winning team.
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