Did you know? Wales footballer Neil Taylor has a family connection with Kolkata’s Gurusaday Road

It was a humid summer afternoon in Kolkata and Kuntala Ghosh Dastidar, one of the best woman footballers this nation has ever produced, was busy giving last-minute tips to the 200-odd children who were ready to do some kicking around at the East Bengal ground. An event had been organised as part of the Kolkata Goalz project, which is run jointly by the British Council, the Premier League and Kolkata Police. Dastidar was one of the many coaches who volunteered to empower the teenagers from the high deprivation areas using the popular sport.

All this had been arranged for the arrival of Neil Taylor, a regular member of the Premier League outfit Swansea City, who then entered the ground and walked straight to the small groups comprising both boys and girls. The full-back, who had been sidelined for nine months after suffering a broken ankle against Sunderland, played with the kids before it started pouring and the frenzy made way for chaos.

A few minutes later, the Wales international sat down for a chat in the trophy room of the I-League club. He spoke at length about a number of topics: Wales’ golden generation, his competition with fellow left-back Ben Davies, his fitness regime after the injury.

Taylor’s tryst with the City of Joy

And most importantly, about his connection with the city of Kolkata. His mother Shibani Chakraborty was born and brought up in the City of Joy and before he was admitted to the Manchester City academy at the age of nine, young Neil would visit his cousins at their Gurusaday Dutta Road residence in Ballygunge almost every vacation.

Even though Neil was eligible to play for India through his mother – his father is British –according to the rules laid out by Fifa, it was never a realistic possibility given that India only allows its citizens to be part of the national teams.

“All the kids have got their own kits. That’s amazing,” he said, about the programme that day. “My visits to India have always been a great experience,” he further added.

That was June 25, 2013. Exactly three years later, on the same day, the defender played the full 90 minutes as Chris Coleman’s men defeated Northern Ireland to seal a berth in the quarter-final of Euro 2016.

The country, which has made it to the European Championship for the first time in its history, will be taking on Belgium on Friday in their bid to further extend the golden run and set up a last-four clash with Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal. Taylor has risen through the ranks and has remained a vital cog in the unit that looks determined to rewrite a history of being perennial underachievers.

After moving to Wrexham Academy in 2005, he was elevated to the senior team in a couple of years and stayed there for three seasons, before making a move to Swansea in 2010, a team he has been representing for the last six years. His tryst with the national team started in the same year and he was also part of the Great Britain squad in the London Olympics.

Can Wales rewrite history?

It has not been an easy journey, especially after the long injury layoff he suffered in 2012. Taylor made only 16 league appearances in 2012-'13 and 2013-'14 combined, but reclaimed his spot in the first team soon to play a total of 68 fixtures in the next two campaigns.

A week ago, the diminutive full-back scored against Russia, his first goal in a competitive match since April 10, 2010. On Friday evening, the 27-year-old will have his work cut out as he will be handed the responsibility of marking either Dries Mertens or Kevin De Bruyne.

Indian football’s connection with major international events has not been very rare. Julian Camino, who was the assistant coach of Argentina during their runners-up campaign in the 2014 World Cup, played for East Bengal in the 1988 Durand Cup. On the other hand, Indian origin players such as Harmeet Singh and Michael Chopra have made names for themselves in the world of football, but none of them went as far as Taylor in their quest for major silverware.

So, when Wales takes the field on Friday to lock horns with mighty Belgium, who are ranked second in the world by Fifa, India will have very good reason to cheer for the Dragons and for their prodigal son, Neil Taylor.