By Basil Peseyie | EMN
A wizard on the defence pitch. Unforgiving to the offensive forays of the strikers. Sobriquet of Great Wall of China in football connotation amply reflects on this industrious footballer. He is none other than Beituo Kirha who breathed his last on the fateful night of 24th March, 2018 leaving the whole of the football fraternity in a state in anguish and despair.
Beituo Kirha rose to football was not through the intense coaching of trainers or professional clubs but by sheer ingenuity where his talent was spotted playing on the narrow alleys of New Market road, Kohima. He came into the football and never lost his passion for the game. He was a role model for many because he treated every one he met with the language of football.
One of the greatest defender the state has produced with his career spanning almost 2 decades from the 80’s to 90’s saw him participated in almost all the major football tournaments played across the length and breadth of the country. The prestigious Santosh Trophy seems to be his favourite as he found himself among the police players at times as the only civilian. Late Beituo fondly recalled his devastating football match in the same tournament when Nagaland team was trounce by star studded Bengal team with the defence line-ups put to disarray by the swift and well-orchestrated play of Bengal.
A moment of proud and achievement he felt was when his photograph appeared in one of the issue of the popular magazine “The Sportstar” in 1998 when he played for the Nagaland Team in Santosh Trophy at Jorhat in Assam. During the peak of his career he candidly admitted to one of the sports scribe that the state lacks in the basic infrastructure to raise the state football standard at par with Manipur and Mizoram. He was of the strong view that the state football cannot continue to bask in the glory and legacy of Late Dr T Ao. A systematic revamping in the whole sports policy with employment opportunities was ardently felt by him. As an indispensable player of the Nagaland Team that won the 1st Dr T Ao Fraternity Gold Cup played at Kohima in 1990 was what he considered a tribute to the legendary bare footed Olympian.
An inexhaustible footballer, Late Beituo was approached by different clubs in the country but preferred to be in the state capital to nurture, guide and boost the upcoming youngsters.
Back to the state football arena, Late Beituo Kirha was a regular face for the New Market Team and the PHED team droning the green and white jersey. He had enormous contribution towards the fame and glory the PHED team had achieved in the state Inter Departmental Tournaments where he was employed. His home team, the New Market XI owed his captaincy and coaching in winning the Kohima Senior Soccer League (1994), Youth Soccer Championship (1995 & 1998), Peace Cup (1998) and other feats in the Royal Gold Cup, Classic Cup and the NSF Martyrs Memorial Trophy. Many of his teammates owed employment to him through the game of football. The determination to win in odd situations and pledging loyalty to the team he played borne the ultimate success.
Ever ready to reprimand his teammates for their lapses and also humbly accept his own follies is a trade mark in him. Spellbinding gaols coming out through his over lapping, accurate free kicks and flank shots added much calibre to his game. An articulate footballer with quick football brain is what made him all the difference with the contemporary footballers of his time.
Beituo Kirha’s untimely demise has engulfed the football fraternity in grief but united in its admiration for the pioneer in football.
