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Nothing hurts more than when someone you know passes away. It is even much more difficult to remember and put thoughts into words about the person.<\/p>\n
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When I heard the news of former international footballer Mani Shah\u2019s untimely \u00a0death, I was shocked and had an overwhelming feeling of sadness.<\/p>\n
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Shah died of liver cirrhosis, at the age of 51, too young and early.He leaves behind \u00a0a legion of adoring fans and an unmatched legacy which will always remain immortal in football history of Nepal.<\/p>\n
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It is most appropriate that we remember him by looking \u00a0back on his legacy and accomplishments.He started playing football at a tender age, thanks largely to the support of his father.<\/p>\n
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After that, there was no looking back for Shah as he caught the eyes of the selectors. The youngster made a \u00a0quick start, following his selection to the youth team for the \u201cPrince Cup \u201c football tournament in Bangkok.Thailand. Rest is history.<\/p>\n
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Without \u00a0his father\u2019s encouragement, support and motivation, probably, Shah would not have attained the super star stature in Nepali football.<\/p>\n
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His father \u00a0saw in him enormous potential \u00a0to become a star. He truly believed that \u00a0he had the ability, talent and skills needed \u00a0to excel in football.<\/p>\n
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More important, he \u00a0mentored his son and made sure he was one hundred percent committed,played to his potential and wholeheartedly supported him all along.<\/p>\n
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He was absolutely right as his son developed into a brilliant footballer with the reputation of a lethal striker. By the time he hung up his boots, the stocky ace striker \u00a0had carved a niche for himself in Nepal football.<\/p>\n
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Unsurprisingly, it did not take long for Shah to win a spot in the national team,making his debut at the age of 18. He \u00a0cemented his place in the senior team for thirteen long years starting from 1985 before playing his final tournament at the Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand in 1998.<\/p>\n
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He was a \u00a0key player and a top notch striker upon whom the team heavily relied \u00a0on his goal scoring prowess. What made him a cut above others was his ability to improvise moves and translate into goals.<\/p>\n
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His presence in the team made a world of difference.He ranks as one of the country\u2019s finest ever strikers.His footballing artistry earned him the title of Diego Maradona.<\/p>\n
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Whether it was his silky dribbling wizardry or sizzling pinpoint freekicks \u00a0or great finishing or play making quality, it was always a joy to watch.<\/p>\n
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Born in Kaldhara, Kathmandu in 1967,Shah made 48 international appearances,which include Asian Games, World Cup Qualifiers, Olympic Games Qualifiers, South Asian Games, AFC Club tournaments and many more for the national team, scoring \u00a06 goals.<\/p>\n
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At the club level, he played for different clubs in Nepal,India and Bangladesh but for the most part was associated with Manang Marshyangdi Club(MMC).<\/p>\n
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In fact, as an upcoming footballer Shah tool plunge into \u00a0the world of competitive football earlier than expected after he joined MMC then in the D Division.He lived up the hype surrounding him, survived the treacherous road to success, and he became a star of the team,playing a pivotal role in taking it to A Division.<\/p>\n
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I had the privilege to know him, and I saw him at close quarters.As a person, he was free-wheeling, accommodating, candid and sometimes blunt.<\/p>\n
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On the other hand, as a player he was tremendously skilful, had a knack of scoring goals and sometimes went wayward.He made playing football \u00a0look easy.<\/p>\n
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On the field, his individual brilliance always kept the opposition defense on their toes. He had the honour to wear the captain jersey and did a fairly good job.<\/p>\n
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Pay a visit to his house where you will \u00a0see a room decked with trophies and memorabilia from his glory \u00a0days in football. Yes, trophies alone cannot be the true measure of his greatness,but if you had watched him play ,I bet you wouldn\u2019t have disagreed.<\/p>\n
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At the height of his career, on the domestic front, I watched him play on a regular basis.Later, as a journo, I had the opportunity \u00a0to assess and analyze his performance, nationally and internationally.<\/p>\n
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Of the many highlights of his career, his long range free kick \u00a0conversion into a goal against India in the dying moments to level the score in the final of the 1993 South Asian Games in Bangladesh stands out.Later Nepal went on to win in a penalty shootout.<\/p>\n
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I was \u00a0physically present at the stadium and watched the spectacular spectacle unfold. As I saw it, I vividly remember, the goal was a gem.<\/p>\n
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Shah\u2019s \u00a0contributions to Nepal football has been immense, and his legacy will live on forever. You will be dearly missed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nothing hurts more than when someone you know passes away. It is even much more difficult to remember and put thoughts into words about the person. When I heard the news of former international footballer Mani Shah\u2019s untimely \u00a0death, I was shocked and had an overwhelming feeling of sadness. Shah died of liver […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/nepalipost.com\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/nepalipost.com\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/nepalipost.com\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nepalipost.com\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nepalipost.com\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/nepalipost.com\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":436,"href":"http:\/\/nepalipost.com\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435\/revisions\/436"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nepalipost.com\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/nepalipost.com\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nepalipost.com\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nepalipost.com\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}