How football players from MP village found their way to German coach; PM Modi shares story

New Delhi, Aug 31 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the world’s attention is increasingly turning towards India and its vast untapped potential, citing the example of football players from Madhya Pradesh’s Shahdol village.

Addressing the 125th episode of his monthly radio programme ‘Mann Ki Baat’, he shared how a recent podcast with podcaster Lex Fridman led to an unexpected opportunity for young Indian footballers.

“Today, the attention of the whole world is towards India. The whole world is eyeing untapped possibilities in India. I want to share a pleasant experience related to this with you. You know that podcasts are in fashion these days. Different people watch and listen to podcasts related to various subjects. Recently, I too had participated in some podcasts. One such podcast was with the world’s very famous podcaster Lex Fridman,” PM Modi said.

He explained that while discussing various issues on the podcast, he happened to mention Shahdol and its young football talent.

“A lot of things were discussed in that podcast, and people from all over the world listened to it. And while the podcast was being discussed, I had raised a topic in the conversation. A German sportsperson listened to that podcast, and his attention was focused on what I had mentioned in it. He connected so much with that topic that he first did research on it and then contacted the Indian Embassy in Germany and wrote a letter saying that he wanted to connect with India on that topic,” he said.

The Prime Minister recalled that two years ago, he had visited Shahdol and met local football players. During his podcast with Lex Fridman, he highlighted their passion for the game, which caught the attention of German football player and coach Dietmar Beiersdorfer.

“The same thing was heard by German football player and coach Dietmar Beiersdorfer. The life journey of young football players of Shahdol impressed and inspired him a lot. Truly, no one had imagined that talented football players from there would attract the attention of other countries. Now this German coach has offered to train some players of Shahdol in an academy in Germany. After this, the government of Madhya Pradesh has also contacted them,” he said.

“Very soon, some of our young friends from Shahdol will go to Germany for a training course. I am also very happy to see that the popularity of football is constantly on the rise in India,” he added.

PM Modi also urged football lovers to visit Shahdol and witness the sporting revolution happening there closely.

–IANS

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