During his stay in Kolkata, He visited Mother House on Sunday afternoon. “Visited Mothers Teresa House of Calcutta, the work they do there is admirable” he wrote on his Facebook profile. In the evening, he was at the heartland of Kolkata football lovers – Yuva Bharathi Kirangan (SaltLake Stadium), where ‘God of Football’, The real Diego (Maradona), had set foot two years back.
Forlan was in the stadium to watch the match between Mohun Bagan XI and Challenger XI. Kick staring the ceremonial match with a pass to Dipendu Biswas, he watch the match with keen interest and often send out instruction to the players through their local coach. The players of Challenger-XI, who all belong to the under privilege section of the society, were told by Forlan ‘to fight and not to get nervous’. Forlan’s team coach by Branco, lost the match by 2-0 goals.
“The players have great skills and potential to grow big if groomed properly”, said the Atletico Madrid star. He was kind enough to share some football tricks with the players before the match. “He is very courteous. Before the match he even taught us how we should have taken free kicks” said Dipendu Biswas later.
“I am happy to be here and if opportunities come, I will come here again” he said to the warm applause from the stands. Unlike the real Diego (Maradona), Forlan was quite happy to mingle around while Maradona was untouchable. Stanley Rozario, Mohun Bagan coach maintained that “Maradona was a legend and such a craze was expected while Forlan has just become the best. Two experiences are totally different.”
With this visit Forlan joins a host of football icons who have come to Kolkata in the last three years. They include Lothar Matthaus, Karl Heinz Rumminege, DiegoMaradona, Branco, Romario, Oliver Kahn, Gerd Mueller, Mark van Bommel and Ze Roberto. Who’s next Kolkata?
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