The six boys who qualified for a seven-day football training camp in Germany. Picture by Pabitra Das

Less than 90 minutes on the field with the Bayern Munich stars have earned six boys a seven-day passport to one of the most-sought-after football training academies in Europe.

The boys were part of a group of 48 — 44 from across the state, the rest from the Adidas Youth Football Academy in Goa — that took part in a “football clinic” at CC&FC on Monday afternoon.

The boys were divided into teams, each with a sprinkling of players from the Bundesliga champion, which took on each other in short games. At the end of the session, the German coaches had chosen six for a weeklong stint at the FC Bayern Football School in Munich.

For those who made the cut, the dream-come-true experience of sharing a pitch with the legendary Oliver Kahn has been topped by the opportunity ahead.

Like in the case of 14-year-old Sooraj Dhopi, who lives in an ashram in Santoshpur and has never stepped out of Calcutta. “Boys like me don’t get such opportunities. I can’t believe my luck,” said the youngster, who has been playing the beautiful game since he was five.

Yohan Confectioner of La Martiniere for Boys, Vedanth Jaiswal of St Xavier’s Collegiate School, Subham Sarkar from Kalna, Jiyarat Ali from Burdwan and Joel Fernandez from Goa are the five who will join Sooraj in Germany.

“I am overwhelmed: first I got to play with Kahn and now I am going to Germany,” said Yohan, who studies in Class X.

The boys, most of whom had no idea that a selection was on, had a great time on the field with the Bayern players.

They simply can’t stop talking about their experience with Kahn. The goalie played upfield in the matches, dribbling and tackling with elan. Between games, he showed his young admirers a trick or two.

“Oliver was very funny. He picked up one of the players who was trying to take the ball away from him and then when one of my team members tried to dribble past him, he pretended to fall down trying to tackle him,” said Sooraj.

The Bayern boost has made the children dream big. While most want to make it to the Indian football team, some even fantasise about leading the squad in the World Cup.

“This is the kind of break every boy dreams of. The selected six will have access to world-class coaches for a week. If they work on the things they learn in Germany, they will become successful players in the future,: said former Indian striker Chuni Goswami.