Borivli boy Johnson Matthews' journey from MSSA to ISL!

When sevenyearold Johnson Matthews played his first Mumbai Schools Sports Association MSSA U8 interschool football match 12 years ago for St Francis DrsquoAssisi High School Borivli he only wanted to do one thingmdashscore goals And he scored all in that 60 win Thatrsquos where the seeds of a future professional footballer were sownEarlier this month Matthews 20 signed a professional contract for topflight football with twotime Indian Super League champions Chennaiyin FCVersatile playerA striker who can double up as a winger Matthews has continued his goalscoring habit long after his school days He emerged the RFYS Golden Ballwinner six goals during FC Pune Cityrsquos titlewinning run in the U18 ILeague in 2018Johnson MatthewsMatthews has played for Mumbai FC and PIFA in junior agegroup competitions and then represented Maharashtra at the Santosh Trophy after which he was picked among the reserves for Hyderabad FC Then Chennaiyin FC came callingThe Borivli resident credits Mumbairsquos various football avenues for his success ldquoMumbai has a very vibrant football culture for all ages and thatrsquos where I honed all my skills School football at MSSA was my foundation and interschool matches were very exciting Itrsquos the first time you interact with coaches and share the excitement of victory or the disappointment of defeat with your teammates who are also your classmates We won the U14 MSSA titlerdquo Matthews recalledAfter schoollevel came localitylevel football ldquoFleet Footers is a club from my locality IC Colony and they have an amazing history of their own We became champions of the Borivli Premier League three years in a rowrdquo added Matthews who also successfully dabbled in 5aside rink football another exciting footballing avenue in the city ldquoI played rink football for Unclersquos Kitchen United FC Thatrsquos one of the best teams not only in Mumbai but across the country because besides Mumbai we won titles in Goa and Delhi Rink football is short and fast and that helps you learn to make quick decisions in tight situationsrdquo added MatthewsChennaiyin FC did not have a great ISL last season winning just three games out of 20 and finishing eighth in the 11team competition A solid improvement is the need of the hour and for this theyrsquove appointed a new coach in Bozidar Bandovic excoach of top Greek outfit OlympiacosBandovic has a strong belief in youngsters which explains India player Anirudh Thapa 23 being handed the captainrsquos armband This with the implementation of ISLrsquos new sevenIndian players policy in the playing XI compared to six previously spells good news for Matthews ahead of the ISL that kicks off in Goa todayClear planldquoItrsquos my first ISL so Irsquom excited The two preseason friendlies against Bengaluru FC and Odisha FC were very competitive To get those few minutes in the bag helped my confidence The coach has a clear plan and so far itrsquos looking good for merdquo Matthews concludedAlso View PHOTOS At 39 Yusuf Pathan is enjoying his time with wife Afreen and his family