Okay, the dream of watching India at FIFA is very, very far off at this point. But we may have made a small step in that direction. Albeit, not actually on the playing field, it’s got us all excited, ’cause maybe this could encourage a whole generation of people to actually take this up as a sport.
Nathania John K is an 11-year-old from Tamil Nadu who just became India’s first FIFA ball girl when she led Brazil on to the field in their game against Costa Rica at Arena St Petersburg. A footballer herself, she was beyond excited about this opportunity. Of course, what threw a spanner in the works was the fact that she wanted to lead the Argentina game because she happens to be a fan of Lionel Messi.
Nathania plays as the centre forward for her senior school team. Nathania got the opportunity to travel to the FIFA World Cup after winning a contest organised by FIFA sponsor KIA. She was selected as OBMC along with a 10-year-old boy Rishi Tej, who hails from Karnataka.