Varin Mehta joins Belgium's Royal Antwerp FC... becomes the fourth Indian to play for a foreign club

History is set to be rewritten in Indian football and this time in the name of Varin Mehta.
The 21-year-old has officially signed on the dotted lines of Belgium’s Royal Antwerp FC for the coming season, thus becoming only the fourth Indian to ply his trade in a foreign league after Mohammad Salim (Celtic in 1937), Bhaichung Bhutia (Bury FC 1999-2002) and Sunil Chhetri (Kansas City Wizards 2010-11).
The Mumbai based lad has been trialing with the club from past one year and his efforts finally bore fruit when club officials decided to offer him a season-long contract.
Interestingly, the club is one of the oldest clubs in Belgium and is a sister-concern of English giants Manchester United. The club has also one of the biggest fan-base in the country, but that hasn’t helped them as they have been struggling in the second division from 2004.
Speaking from Antwerp, Belgium, Varin confirmed his signing and was excited to don the club colours for the coming season. “It would be a great day for me. It would be like a dream come true. My hard work from past one year has finally paid off,” said Varin.
Till 2009, the youngster was part of the Mahindra United U-19 and also played in the I-League U-19. But the club shutting shop from competitive football meant he started looking for opportunities outside India.
With some close contacts, the Mehta family finally got in touch with the club president who offered him to trial with the club. But things weren’t as easy as it sounded as the 5’8 striker had to slog for the coming year and prove that he deserved to play at this level. “Many people would ask me questions like, son! Are you an Indian? What are you doing playing football, you should be playing cricket. Does India even play football,” said Mehta.
People questioned him but he was determined to prove the odds wrong. “From the mid 30’s in Mumbai to -5 in Antwerp, I was determined to face anything that came my way. Acclimatizing to the chilly climate to getting use to one touch football, are some of things that I adapted very quickly. I was glad that I finally proved every one wrong,” he said.
Besides him was his mother Gira, who cared of him for the coming two years. “She made lot of sacrifices. We being strict vegetarians, she took care of my food and made sure that I didn’t suffer. Getting VISA for her was difficult, so she decided to study her masters and that’s how she is with me. I owe a lot to her,” said Varin thanking his coaches Santosh Kashyap and Abid Kenkre.
Impressing the coach was one thing and securing a professional contract was another. “There was one major hurdle that had to be cleared. The club had financial difficulties and hiring a foreign player like me meant that they had to pay a certain some of money (according to their government rules), which was out of their budget. They suggested me if a sponsor can be roped in, hiring me wouldn’t be a problem. After making rounds of several corporates for months, RIL decided to sponsor and things fell in place,” he clarified.
His father Girish Mehta added that had his son playing in India, he still wouldn’t have secured a club. “Having in India would have meant that he would have been begging people to take him in the team. I never wanted that, so I thought of sending him abroad,” said the senior Mehta.
Having achieved a part of his dream, Varin wants to represent India at the highest level. “I don’t want to go to I-League now. My first goal is to cement a place in this team and make my mark in European football. I want to take it step by step and play for better clubs and eventually an EPL club. I also want to wear national colours, when an opportunity comes my way that would be my ultimate achievement,” he signed off.