The game with a difference

Football Fever

These days, with space being scarce in the City, young people have to
forget about playing football or cricket.

And the grounds that are left are packed massively. So they have to seek new sports zones outside the City to pursue their passion for their favourite games.

This being the football season, youngsters in the City regularly play ‘5 vs 5’, a game of football at XLR8, which is located near Kothanur.

The players can book the place for an hour by paying Rs 100.Anuraag Nair, a student of University Of Birmingham, UK , who played ‘5 vs 5’ with nine of his friends recently, said, “Considering there aren’t many places to play football, it’s a great idea to have sports clubs like these. The only issue was with the lights.”

“They should get a generator here because in the schedule of an hour, there was power disruption twice.

It took about ten minutes for the power to return. It reduced our play time,” he added.

“The place needs to get a more sporty look. But I’m glad places like these are coming up in Bangalore.

It enables us to play with friends and enjoy some fair sport,” he said.
For this group, the game was as intense as it could get . “This place always holds
tournaments for schools, colleges and corporates.

It’s a great place to play. It is nice to get a real feel even though the turf is artificial,” said Varun Avantikar, a professional, who was part of the team.

Syed Sharoo, a second- year PG student of St Joseph’s College of Commerce and Nahash Gerald, a professional, played furiously for the side they were on, giving equal number of passes and connecting the team against the opponents.

But the opponents too weren’t far behind. Joshua Noel Passanha and Varun tore into the other side and challenged the goal keeper more often than once.


“It’s a small place but for a beginner, it’s a great place to play. The only major issue is that it’s too far from the City and travelling back and forth will drain all the energy we have.

Places like XLR8 give you the chances to use the studs and get the natural pace of the football and enjoy it to its maximum,” said Syed Noorul Sadeqeen, a third-year BBM student from St Joseph’s College.

Since the place is small, about three or two good passes will put the ball near the opponent’s sides making it hard to defend and one really need exceptional skills to keep the ball from hitting the back of the net.

“This place is well-known amongst the corporates and college students because of the tournaments they host here. The feel is real and it gets intense because in this kind of game, the pace is fast and there is no time to relax,” said Syed Sharoo.

At the end of the match, one side couldn’t stop smiling while the other was talking about its tactics.