<p>This is a city lad and footballer who switched over to futsal to become the first Asian to be a part of a prestigious Italian team. He is also slated to play in a prestigious tournament soon, for the second time.</p>.<p>Yashwanth Kumar, a seventh semester student of Mechanical Engineering at Vidyavardhaka College of Engineering has already played as a goal-keeper for Calcio C 5 Club in the Serie B Italian League in May 2019. He has signed a contract for the same club, for the year 2020-21 also.</p>.<p>Son of N Kumar, a craftsman and businessman, and N Roopa, of NR Mohalla, Yashwanth Kumar said, “There is nobody in my family in sports. As a boy, 14 years back, I started playing football. In 2016, when I learnt about the first Premier Futsal Tournament being held in India, through an advertisement on Facebook, I took part in the selection process. I was selected for Kochi5s, owned by ES Entertainment of Kerala. Then, the Bengaluru franchise was owned by actor Puneet Rajkumar. Then I got to see legendary players, such as Marcos Evangelista de Morais, known as Cafu, Ronaldinho, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Alessandro Rosa Vieira, known as Falacao, and Hernan Crespo”.</p>.<p>“Michel Salgado was the legendary player of my team. Then, I played for Kerala State team and went on to be a part of the Indian team in 2017, under the Futsal Association of India. I was fortunate to play in the Serie B Italian League as it is a prestigious event across Europe. Futsal is a European game. No Asian (or Indian) has got an opportunity to play for the prestigious tourney so far. I was fortunate to be the first Asian,” said Yashwanth Kumar.</p>.<p>He said, he is grateful to his football coach Praveen, who trains him by adopting the futsal format. “Futsal, also known as footsal is a variant of association football played on hard court, smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It is played between two teams of five players each, one of whom is a goalkeeper. Unlimited substitutions are permitted. Its rules favour ball control and passing in small spaces. Its emphasis is on improvisation, creativity and technique,” he said.</p>.<p>Yashwanth Kumar said, he is thankful to Match Box Arena, in Garudachar Layout of Vijayanagar in the city, for allowing him to practice there.</p>
<p>This is a city lad and footballer who switched over to futsal to become the first Asian to be a part of a prestigious Italian team. He is also slated to play in a prestigious tournament soon, for the second time.</p>.<p>Yashwanth Kumar, a seventh semester student of Mechanical Engineering at Vidyavardhaka College of Engineering has already played as a goal-keeper for Calcio C 5 Club in the Serie B Italian League in May 2019. He has signed a contract for the same club, for the year 2020-21 also.</p>.<p>Son of N Kumar, a craftsman and businessman, and N Roopa, of NR Mohalla, Yashwanth Kumar said, “There is nobody in my family in sports. As a boy, 14 years back, I started playing football. In 2016, when I learnt about the first Premier Futsal Tournament being held in India, through an advertisement on Facebook, I took part in the selection process. I was selected for Kochi5s, owned by ES Entertainment of Kerala. Then, the Bengaluru franchise was owned by actor Puneet Rajkumar. Then I got to see legendary players, such as Marcos Evangelista de Morais, known as Cafu, Ronaldinho, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Alessandro Rosa Vieira, known as Falacao, and Hernan Crespo”.</p>.<p>“Michel Salgado was the legendary player of my team. Then, I played for Kerala State team and went on to be a part of the Indian team in 2017, under the Futsal Association of India. I was fortunate to play in the Serie B Italian League as it is a prestigious event across Europe. Futsal is a European game. No Asian (or Indian) has got an opportunity to play for the prestigious tourney so far. I was fortunate to be the first Asian,” said Yashwanth Kumar.</p>.<p>He said, he is grateful to his football coach Praveen, who trains him by adopting the futsal format. “Futsal, also known as footsal is a variant of association football played on hard court, smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It is played between two teams of five players each, one of whom is a goalkeeper. Unlimited substitutions are permitted. Its rules favour ball control and passing in small spaces. Its emphasis is on improvisation, creativity and technique,” he said.</p>.<p>Yashwanth Kumar said, he is thankful to Match Box Arena, in Garudachar Layout of Vijayanagar in the city, for allowing him to practice there.</p>