After showcasing their mettle at four of the biggest youth tournaments in Europe and hogging the limelight, the Minerva Academy Football Club U-15 team is now setting its sights on success at the Mediterranean International Cup (MICFootball).
This prestigious international youth football tournament is held annually in Costa Brava, Spain, and will take place in March 2026.
The tournament will feature teams from around the world, including top professional academies such as Barcelona, Manchester United, Real Madrid, PSG, Arsenal, and Juventus.
Ranjit Bajaj, former national footballer, director and owner of the club, and mentor of the victorious U-15 team, said, “The Minerva team has received an invitation to this prestigious international tournament. It’s a proud moment for the team, which has consistently made its presence felt with an outstanding success rate.”
While the talented Minerva team captured the world’s three biggest youth tournaments – the World Youth Cup aka Gothia Cup (Sweden), the Dana Cup (Denmark), and the Norway Cup (Norway) – they finished runners-up in the Helsinki Cup (Finland).
Starting their campaign on July 7, the Minerva team went on to emerge as the first team ever from India to enter the record books by winning the world’s three biggest youth tournaments. Such success did not come easy for the team who toiled hard for three months in a run-up to the Europe tour.
Throwing light on how the team prepared, Ranjit Bajaj, said, “Nothing was left to chance during the preparation for all four tournaments and everything was done meticulously. Like nutritionists and psychologists worked relentlessly with the team. Tracking their blood tests and seeing their recovery time and how much protein and carbohydrates each one needed. Then getting tests done to check their decision-making. The team was training according to the European time and things like weather there and playing in the rains were also taken into account.”
The team was allowed to have U-14, 14 and two 15 year old footballers in the team. Ranjit was with the team on the entire tour along with Surinder Singh (technical director) and three other coaches Vineet Kumar, Ashu Kashyap (both from Chandigarh) and Shiva from Tamil Nadu. The players hailed from various Indian states like Chattisgarh, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana and Meghalaya.
While highlighting what kept the team maintaining such winning momentum and staying consistent, Ranjit said, “The consistency came from the mental and physical training done prior and the way the team adjusted to the conditions. The management had taken training methods out of the armed forces manuals. Imagine the 14 and 15 year olds adhering to such high standards.”
Ranjit said that winning the Gothia Cup, also known as the Youth World Cup, was the toughest. “The fact that we beat an Argentina team in the final made it more special. Argentina is a country carrying the legacy of players like Lionel Messi and Maradona. Also, we had beaten a Brazilian team last year to win the title. So, it was very befitting. The trickiest had to be the Helsinki Cup. The team lost to a strong Finland team in the final but nevertheless the players learnt a lot.” The Minerva team lost in the Helsinki Cup final to Finland’s legendary team PK-35 by 0-1.
Wahengbam Raj Singh stood as the tournament’s undisputed goal-scoring machine, netting an extraordinary 60 goals across the four tournaments. Meanwhile, Punshiba Meitei was another standout, scoring 33 times with unplayable pace and poise.
Praising Wahengbam Raj Singh, Ranjit said, “The team’s success can largely be attributed to Raj’s role and form. He is 15 and hails from Manipur. He not only scored 60 goals in all tournaments but also had 30 assist goals. He plays at number 9 as striker. This is the place for which the Indian team is looking for an apt replacement. He will be in the Indian team in the coming years.”