Sudeva FC captain Shubho Paul selected for FC Bayern 'World U-19' squad

New Delhi: Delhi-based I-League side Sudeva FC captain Shubho Paul has been selected in the ‘world under-19’ squad of the famous German club FC Bayern. The 17-year-old Paul will attend a training programme, in which special focus will be placed on team-building and cultural exchange in addition to the sporting aspects, a release from Sudeva FC said. “The FC Bayern world squad will have a training camp in Munich for all selected talents. There, the young footballers will have the chance to get to know FC Bayern and to compete in a match with the FC Bayern U-19,” the release said. Led by club legend and World Cup winner Klaus Augenthaler and their coach of international programmes, Christopher Loch, FC Bayern launched a talent hunt to pick 15 players from around the world to form a ‘world squad’. Players had to send their short videos over a period of time and the only requirement was that they be born in 2003 or 2004. The FC Bayern world U-19 squad will play against other Bundesliga youth teams and also train there for around two weeks. Paul, who is also part of the India U-17 team, has been nurtured by Sudeva since he was a 12-year-old player. He was selected by Sudeva’s scouting team during the grassroots and youth trial in 2017. “Since May 2017, Shubho has been given the facility of boarding, lodging, training and schooling. As part of our commitment towards striking a balance between sports and academics, we are also providing regular tuition to the child,” the club said. Shubho is a young and dynamic striker, who started in Sudeva’s U-13 I-League team and today is a part of Sudeva’s Hero I-League Team. In the first season of U-13 I-League, Paul emerged as the leading scorer with 58 goals in 14 matches. That caught the eyes of the national team scouts and he was invited to join the India U-15 national camp. He then scored 13 goals in the 2018-19 AIFF U-15 Youth League and was a part of the India U-16 exposure tour to Turkey in 2019-20 where he scored three goals in two appearances. He scored three goals in three matches in the 2019-20 AFC U-16 Championship Qualifiers in Uzbekistan. He also netted 14 goals in the AIFF U-18 Youth League and then appeared for Sudeva FC in the 2020-21 I-League, scoring two goals in eight appearances. Sudeva FC President Anuj Gupta said, “I want to see him as a professional player playing at top level in Europe in times to come. It is a big responsibility on him which can pave way for many more Indian talent being developed in Europe.”