Fifteen-year-old Lalchungnunga, also known as the 'Mizo Messi' among his friends, had always dreamt of making it big in the world of football but never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that he would be able to go to Germany for soccer training.

Hailing from a marginal farmer's family, Lalchungnunga's father, Chhangte Laldinmawia was unaware of his son's talent and exploits, till his friends informed him of his incredible potential. They convinced him that Lalchungnunga could achieve great heights in the sport. Being a daily wage earner, Laldinmawia knew supporting his child's dream would be a difficult task, but now he is delighted as his son will be going for football training in Germany's Bundesliga league for six years.

Born in a family of eight and inspired by great players like Lionel Messi, Mizo Messi started playing at an early age of nine. Thanks to the Tata Trust's Centre of Excellence, Lalchungnunga and his friends now have a golden opportunity.

With the aim of making sports a priority in youth development nationally, Tata Trusts is creating football academies in the Northeastern states for youth to be able to compete on a global playing field, by training them and then offering them the opportunity to be scouted to train for six years in Germany in the Bundesliga league.

Speaking about the initiative, Associate Director, Tata Trusts, Biswanath Sinha, said the government of Mizoram and Tata Trusts had recently signed an MoU to nurture sports talent in the state by harnessing the rich wealth of talent and existing sports infrastructure. He said a state-of-the-art Centre of Excellence (CoE) will also be launched as part of this initiative.

"The CoE will offer world class training and development opportunities for young children from the region. The initiative will also offer opportunities for students to compete against both Indian and international teams in similar age groups," Sinha said.

"In addition to intensive football training, the CoE will give equal importance to academics with the end goal of making football a viable career option for the youth of Mizoram. If the selected kids do not excel in sports, then they have the opportunity to go for academics as the trust will ensure proper education of these kids," Sinha said, adding that as the talented kids are from humble background, it would be great for Indian sports if they succeed in national and international level events.