Dempo SC midfielder Godwin Franco and Indian international defender Nirmal Chettri will join Germany’s Fortuna Düsseldorf for a one-week long trial on Tuesday.

Fortuna Düsseldorf, former German champions in 1933, have invited the Indian players with the intent to have a closer look at them and to access if they fit into their squad. If the players are successful in their short initial trial, then they would either be invited back later in the season or at the beginning of the next season.

Godwin and Nirmal are set to arrive in Düsseldorf from India on Tuesday, November 12 and are set to start their training with Fortuna Düsseldorf at the clubs training complex besides the Esprit Arena on Wednesday, November 13. The trial, which is a first for any Indian professional footballer in Germany, is a chance for the players to show themselves to a professional football team, who are looking to add to their squad.

Fortuna Düsseldorf relegated to the 2nd Divison Bundesliga at the end of the last season and the two Indian players are looking forward to rub their shoulders with players of such a calibre. The one-week long trial will be a great experience for the two Indian stars and they will be able to test their qualities at such a high level.

Nirmal Chettri is looking forward to being in Germany. “It has always been my dream to give European football a shot. Irrespective of the results at the trials, I feel this will be a big learning opportunity for me. I will get to see where I stand amongst established players in Germany. This might be the first time I will be going to Europe on a trial but certainly not the last. Currently, I have offers to join the I-League but have kept them on hold for this opportunity which I am keenly looking forward to it. Opportunities like this one doesn’t come too often and if we don’t take the chance we will never know where we stand in world football.”

An elated Godwin Franco said, “First I thank God for giving me this huge opportunity of being selected by Fortuna Düsseldorf for trials. It’s something massive as the club played Bundesliga only last season, one of the best leagues in the world and they have won the German title in the past. Also Germany is a football powerhouse and by the grace of God I’m going to give my best!”

Both players know that they will have a tough week of football ahead of them, but Nirmal said, “Going to the German League is not the easiest thing to do although it is just for a week, so I am ready to give all I have. I just want to be able to give my best at every session in this trial and see what the technical staff of Düsseldorf have to say about me. I recent days I have often spoken to Gouramangi Singh and Subrata Pal and I understand that the level of football and training sessions are completely different to what we are used to but the coaches are there to help us and get us accustomed.”

Trial organiser Arunava Chaudhuri said: “I would like to take this opportunity to first thank Fortuna Düsseldorf for giving this opportunity to our Indian players, but I also would like to thank Dempo SC, IMG-Reliance, Football Edge and some friends, who wish not want to be named, for their help in making this trial possible. It has been a lot of work in the last three months to get this trial going and I know both Nirmal and Godwin will give their best.”

“Let’s see how this week at Fortuna Düsseldorf pans out, then anything is possible in football. The opportunity has been created for the players to achieve something,” Arunava went on to add.

Arunava Chaudhuri and I myself, Chris Punnakkattu Daniel, will accompany Godwin and Nirmal during their trials at Fortuna Düsseldorf. Furthermore we will be offering exclusive coverage on our blogs (www.chrispd.de and arunfoot.blogspot.com) and our Facebook fanpages (www.facebook.com/cpd81 and www.facebook.com/arunfoot).

The official hashtag for the trials will be #F95INDIA. So don’t forget to use #F95INDIA while posting about the trials on the various social media platforms!