India U-16 football captain from Manipur saved his boots and certificates as house was burnt down

On the fateful morning of May 4 when young Ngamgouhou Mate had to vacate his uncle’s home along with the entire colony of Khongsai Veng in Imphal, he quickly threw in his football boots and academic certificates in his bag and left. But the 15-year-old, who recently captained India to the U16 SAFF Cup title in Bhutan, didn’t know that he would never return to the place where he had stayed for the last four years to pursue his dream in the Beautiful Game.

Khonsai Veng, a Kuki minority pocket in East Imphal, was gutted down by mobs, just hours after Mate and his relatives left for a nearby school to seek shelter. “My uncle’s house was burnt down. We lost everything. The Scooty I used for travelling to practice at the club was also burnt down. I just packed my football boots and some documents and left. It was the place where my journey in football began but it’s no more,” Mate tells The Indian Express over a call from the Kangpopki district of Manipur where he has been stranded since returning from Bhutan. However, Mate still practises regularly at the local ground and hits the gym as per his training routine.

The Mate-led side lifted the SAFF Cup on September 10, beating Bangladesh in the final. Even though engaged in national duty, Mate was constantly worried about his family’s safety back home. On the morning of the semifinal against Maldives, he received a message that his parents’ place at Pallel in the Tengnoupal district was under attack. As per reports, Pallel saw fresh violence even last week.

“As soon as the match got over, I just ran to call my parents to check if they were okay. They had already fled the area,” says Mate. He hoped that things would calm down in a few days and he would be able to return home