Kochi, September 15
In a heartwarming gesture following the devastating landslides in Mundakkai and Chooralmala, 24 young survivors from Wayanad will receive a once-in-a-lifetime experience as they will be witnessing the Indian Super League (ISL) clash between Kerala Blasters FC (KBFC) and Punjab FC (PFC) live on Sunday.
These children, part of an initiative titled "Orumichonam," will be special guests at the Kerala Blasters vs. Punjab FC game in Kochi.
The children, aged between 8 and 12, will have the honour of walking hand-in-hand with the players as they enter the pitch at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, creating a memorable experience beyond just watching the game. They are students from Vellarmala GVHSS, Mundakkai LP School, and Meppadi WMO School.
Many of these children have lost family members and homes in the recent landslides, and are currently living in temporary government rehabilitation housing. The initiative aims to bring joy and positivity to their lives as they recover from the trauma of the disaster.
This fixture marks the third encounter between the two sides, with each team securing one win in their previous meetings. Kerala Blasters FC, known for their passionate fan base, are aiming to extend their perfect streak of opening-game wins to three consecutive seasons.
Punjab FC's maiden ISL campaign last season finished with an impressive 4-1 victory over East Bengal FC and will be looking to carry that momentum into the new campaign.
A win against Kerala Blasters FC would give Punjab their first-ever back-to-back wins in ISL history, as they aim to build a strong foundation for the season ahead.
Kerala Blasters' new Swedish head coach, Mikael Stahre, has joined the club with a pedigree of guiding top teams across Europe and Asia before coming to Indian shores.
"They are a very eager group, always ready to put in maximum effort. We have a good mixture of youth and experience and also foreign players. But all of them have a huge drive, they want to improve themselves, and they want to achieve something for this club," Stahre shared with ISL.
Punjab FC also have roped in a new Greek coach, Panagiotis Dilmperis. This is his first assignment in Asia but the 49-year-old feels excited to be in India.
He highlights how Punjab FC have progressed in the last couple of years with a focus on quality over quantity.
"Punjab FC are moving forward every year. They are taking quality steps forward and everyone at the club including the director (Nikolaos Topoliatis) is focused on quality more than quantity. This is a great challenge for me because for this season we have to do one step better than last season. The previous season was also good, especially in the second half," Dilmperis said as per quoted by ISL.
Adrian Luna is the main man for Kerala Blasters FC and the Uruguayan has a knack of scoring goals. The 32-year-old has already netted 13 goals for the Blasters and is only two strikes away from becoming the club's joint second-highest scorer in the ISL alongside Nigeria's Bartholomew Ogbeche (15). Only Dimitrios Diamantakos (23) has scored more goals for the club. The Greek footballer has left KBFC, he was the top scorer of last season's ISL.
In Punjab FC, all eyes will be on Slovenia's Luka Majcen, who proved his mettle last season in ISL, notching eight goals. He finished the campaign as Punjab FC's joint-highest scorer alongside Colombia's Wilmar Jordan Gil.
Apart from his prowess upfront, it is Majcen's experience and leadership skills that make him invaluable in this setup.