'Manchester United was a bit too early'

On August 10, 2003 two players made their debut for Manchester United. One went on to win three league titles and the Champions League in six dazzling years. The other made all of 20 appearances in two years before frittering away. The careers of Cristiano Ronaldo and Eric Djemba Djemba then never crossed each others. The former went on to win awards as coveted as the FIFA Ballon d’or while the other became a typical journeyman hovering from club to club across countries.

But Djemba Djemba, the 33-year-old Cameroonian, says he has ‘no regrets’ and is richer for the experience. He shared his thoughts with The Hindu after signing for Chennaiyin FC in the Indian Super League.

Why did you choose Chennaiyin FC?

My agent talked to me first. Then I spoke to (Mikael) Silvestre and (Bernard) Mendy. Silvestre is older and has a lot of experience having played in England, France, Italy etc. So he said it’s a good team to come and play for. And greats like (Alessandro) Del Piero, Marco (Materazzi) are here. So I thought it was a great opportunity.

You have said before that you want to play till 36 or 37. Now you are 33. In that sense how will this stint help you?

I consider it as a growth opportunity. It’s important for me to play (regularly). I want continue playing till 37 or 38. I will enjoy this tournament first and then think whether to stay or move. For now I want to win this tournament.

You are known as a tough midfielder who breaks up attacks. Materazzi has played in that role in the last two matches. So what will your role be?

I haven’t discussed it yet with Marco. I am professional and play for the team. But I can sit in front of the defence and break up attacks. So, I will be happy to share that burden with him.

Tell us about the days you played with Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney.

It was great. Both were young. Cristiano was around 16 or 17. He used to live with his mother. I used to live alone. And he used to be always with me, during training and afterwards. He used to come to my house. And today he is one of the best in the world. Rooney too. He is a very tough guy and has great mentality. I am happy to see them where they are.

When you played for Manchester, you weren’t a big star one generally associates with United. How did you cope with that?

It’s part of life. I have learnt from that. When I joined Manchester I was very young. I was coming from nowhere. Roy Keane was injured then. So I played for one and half years. But when Keane came back, he had to play because he was the captain.

So I think it was a bit too early. I think I was at the right place but not at the right time. Alex Ferguson, who first signed me, met me later when I was playing in Denmark. I was 27 or 28 then and much more mature. He said, ‘I wish I could take you back’.

What are your first impressions of India?

People are friendly. When I landed in Mumbai, some Manchester fans recognised me and wished me luck. It was nice.

http://www.thehindu.com/sport/football/richer-for-the-experience-djemba/article6571659.ece

Chennaiyin maintains unbeaten home record

It was a match in which both Atletico de Kolkata (ATK) and Chennaiyin FC went for caution and, rightly, the game suffered for it. It was only apt that it ended 1-1, with both goals coming from the spot. Both teams also finished with 10 men. 

Chennai started with a 4-3-1-2 formation with Harmanjot Khabra and Denson Devadas on either side of Marco Materazzi protecting the back four. Atletico de Kolkata lined up in 4-2-3-1 with Borja Fernandez and Ofentse Nato sitting back and performing the duties of defensive midfielders.

Much of the play was in the centre of the pitch. But with both sets of players sticking to each other, neither side had much time on the ball. ATK’s only bit of creative play came right at the start when Luis Garcia split the Chennai defence and Joffre Mateu slid the ball across the goal-line from the left.

However, no striker was in sight to tap it in.  The visitors, defended in banks of four throughout. This allowed Chennai practically no chance for playing long balls. After initially attempting to despatch a couple, the idea was shunned.

Chennai, after finding it tough to break through the middle, stretched the play a bit. It was then that two chances arrived.

Gouramangi Singh first, and then Khabra put impressive crosses from the right flank. The ATK defence, however, held together. Soon, even that channel was closed down with wide midfielder Joffre dropping back.

Sending off

Then, ATK was handed a massive advantage on 33 minutes, when Chennai goalkeeper Shilton Paul was sent off for bringing down Mohammed Rafi.

The latter was through on goal and had looped the ball above Shilton before being fouled. Garcia slotted the ensuing penalty into the bottom right corner.  Chennai, predictably, sacrificed debutant striker Jean Maurice to keep its defensive shape and brought in Gennaro Bracigliano to man the goalmouth. 

But immediately after the break, it was even-stevens with Joffre getting a second yellow for simulation, while attempting to beat Bracigliano. As a result, ATK, with a goal up, dropped further back, with the defensive duo of Fernandez and Nato playing their roles to perfection.

Defender Bernard Mendy charged into the midfield on occasions, only for the opposition defenders to close him down. Towards the end, Chennai threw more men behind the ball by bringing in the forwards Balwant Singh and Jeje Lalpekhlua.

With the game drawing to a close, ATK seemed to have earned a crucial away win until John Stiven Mendoza was brought down by Kinshuk Debnath in injury time.

Elano, who didn’t have much luck with a slew of free-kicks early on, scored to maintain Chennai’s unbeaten home record.

http://www.thehindu.com/sport/football/indian-super-league-chennaiyin-maintains-unbeaten-home-record/article6564573.ece

A keen battle of table toppers

It’s that phase in the Indian Super League (ISL) where teams hoping to become champions are beginning to stake claim.

For Chennaiyin FC, the league’s second-placed team, it starts against Atletico de Kolkata (ATK) on Tuesday at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

It will mark the start of a frenetic period for Chennai. Four games will be played in the next 14 days, including three against the two of the best teams in the league so far — ATK and NorthEast United FC and one against Pune FC.

Table-topper Kolkata is coming off a well-earned rest. After having played five games in the first 14 days, it hasn’t taken the field for more than a week.

A bit of rustiness is a given, but the team’s marquee signing Luis Garcia, who is returning after an injury lay-off, sought to look at the positives.

 “It was important that we got that rest,” he said.

“We played a lot at the start. So this (rest) has been good and it will help us approach the game better.”

 It will be interesting how the match unfolds. Unlike Chennai’s previous opponents, Mumbai City FC, ATK doesn’t play with a high-defensive line.

Both sides, at least on available evidence, look content on sitting back and hitting on the counter.

“Yes. It has been one of our strategies,” said Chennai’s player-manager Marco Materazzi.

“But we have scored 10 goals so far. So it is not the only way. We want to see our fans happy by scoring more goals.”

A major reason for Chennai’s thumping 5-1 win against Mumbai was the effectiveness of the Materazzi-Elano-John Stiven Mendoza combination. Materazzi neutralised Nicolas Anelka’s attacking thrust by employing himself in a shielding role, while the other two wrecked havoc at the front.

A scare

However, the team was given a scare when Mendoza was down with fever a couple of days back. However Materazzi confirmed that the Colombian was fit though he remained non-committal on playing himself, in a role akin to his last, but this time to neutralise Luis Garcia.

Kolkata will continue to miss the services of Head Coach Antonio Lopez Habas in the dug-out and forward Fikru Lemessa on the pitch, both of whom are serving suspensions.

Baljit Singh Sahni acquitted himself well in the latter’s absence by scoring a goal in the previous match against Kerala Blasters and should continue to do so here.

For Chennai, defenders Jairo Andres Suarez Carvajal and Abhishek Das are out.

http://www.thehindu.com/sport/football/indian-super-league-a-keen-battle-of-table-toppers/article6561703.ece

I believe ISL will come good, says Beto

In the annals of the I-League, Roberto Mendes Silva, popularly called ‘Beto’, is regarded as one of the finest players. The Brazilian playmaker is a three-time I-League champion — twice with Goan club Dempo for whom he played for from 2005 to 2011 and once with Churchill Brothers during his two-year stay from 2011.

But, when the Indian Super League (ISL) came calling, the focus shifted from the I-league and its players towards more marketable foreign players and coaches. Yet Beto has managed to leave his imprint.

Getting Zico

Through his player agency Get Pro Sports Management, he has roped in the Brazilian trio of legendary Zico, FC Goa manager and the biggest name in the ISL, Elano, Chennaiyin FC’s marquee player and the league’s best player so far, and Andre Santos, the FC Goa defender who has played for Arsenal in the past.

“Players should first trust [you],” says Beto on how he convinced these big names to come to India. “That was the biggest challenge. But I believed that India had a lot to offer. I explained that and all the players trusted me.”

There were indeed hiccups. Some contractual specifics had to be negotiated with Zico and some payment-related issues with the others. But they were ironed out in time for them to liven up the Indian football scene. “There were issues. It wasn’t simple. We had to work a lot. But they are not in it for money. The players, in turn, will add a lot (to Indian football).”

For someone who has played in India for over a decade, Beto knows how professional football has struggled from both official and spectator apathy. In that sense he feels the initial steps the ISL has taken have been positive.

“I have never seen the kind of vibe that the ISL is creating. It’s a big plus. Top names want to come. Promotion and publicity have been a success. I believe ISL will come good. It can’t possibly compare with Brazil and Europe (in infrastructure and facilities). But, the players have accepted it. And going forward things will definitely improve.”

While the ISL has seen an impressive start, what it means vis-à-vis I-League has remained ambiguous. Some clubs like Mohun Bagan and East Bengal have loaned players to the ISL, but reigning champion Bengaluru FC hasn’t. It has unfortunately led to situation where players like the current National team captain and one of the most popular faces Sunil Chhetri have missed out.

“It’s important to fit everybody in,” Beto says. “The ISL is for the country and we can’t forget the I-league clubs. But we will have to leave it to the organisers and I hope the decision is best for everyone.”

On his own playing career, the 35-year-old, who returned to Dempo last year, said he won’t be playing this year. “Next year will be my last. May be the I-League or ISL. I don’t want people to tell me when to go. I will go out on my own.”

http://www.thehindu.com/sport/football/i-believe-isl-will-come-good-says-beto/article6553238.ece

Chennaiyin FC destroys Mumbai

It was a tale scripted to perfection. Every change rung in and every tactical switch worked wonders for Chennaiyin FC even as Mumbai City FC didn’t help itself by aggravating the very same problem areas it had rightly identified beforehand.

The end result was a 5-1 rout of Mumbai by Chennai with two goals each from marquee player Elano and John Stiven Mendoza Valencia and one from Jeje Lalpekhlua.

Player-manager Marco Materazzi made four changes — Lalpekhlua replaced Balwant Singh upfront, Shilton Paul manned the goal in place of Gennaro Bracigliano, defender Jairo Andres Suarez Carvajal came in for Dhanachandra Singh and the most inspired of them all, Materazzi played himself instead of Bojan Djordic.

The towering former Italian World Cup winner was positioned in front of the defence in what was a 4-1-2-3 formation, a slightly defensive version of the 4-3-3. He won balls, intercepted play and marshalled his defence to nullify the twin threat of Mumbai’s Nicolas Anelka and Andre Francisco Moritz. The axis of Materazzi-Elano-Mendoza / Lalpekhlua it helped create was the key.

Chennaiyin’s attack was more direct. The super-quick Mendoza ran the channels between the opposing defenders who often found themselves beaten by the aerial balls launched by Elano. After the latter, who was inexplicably left unmarked throughout, scored off a penalty in the ninth minute, Materazzi won the ball near his penalty area, passed to Elano who let a first-time pass fly over the defence. It was neatly bundled into the bottom left corner by Lalpekhlua for the second goal in the 26th minute.

Pattern repeats

It was a pattern that repeated many times, only with varying cast. Twice Shilton cleared the ball beyond the Mumbai defence only for Mendoza to be denied both times.

One such perfectly weighted ball from Harmanjot Khabra was finished off by Mendoza for the fourth goal a minute before halftime.

 Mumbai manager Peter Reid had earlier spoken about Elano’s dead-ball skills. He would have been gutted to have conceded two goals from such set-pieces.

In a sense, the two free-kicks which resulted in the third and fifth goals weren’t Elano’s best efforts.

The first in the 41st minute was a really innocuous one which was fluffed by goalkeeper Subrata Paul and duly tapped in by Mendoza.

The second in the 69th minute was drilled from the left flank which escaped every on-rushing player into the goal.

Throughout, the visiting side could hardly stitch together a promising move. On one rare occasion when Anelka slipped the ball through to Subhash Singh in the first half, Shilton was up to the task.

Only after Materazzi was replaced by Bojan Djordjic in the 58th minute did Mumbai enjoy more possession.

Anelka took a more central role with Andre Moritz behind him. A couple of times Djordjic ventured a bit further than Materazzi had done earlier, letting Mumbai advance a bit. But all that it got was a consolation goal by Syed Rahim Nabi from a corner.

In the last twenty minutes there were darting runs into the opposition half by Elano, Mendoza and Bernard Mendy.

But with five goals already scored these hardly seemed like goal-scoring moves but mere attempts at enjoying themselves.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-sports/chennaiyin-fc-destroys-mumbai/article6542611.ece

Chennaiyin FC needs to regroup

Two games into the Indian Super League (ISL) season, Chennaiyin FC appeared to be on course to becoming a well-rounded unit. For a team assembled at the eleventh hour, two wins out of two seemed a bit rich. Only the much-fancied Atletico de Kolkata (ATK) boasted of a similar record.

However, it was quickly brought down to earth by an impressive Delhi Dynamos side last Saturday and, in the process, was asked some questions. The side will get an opportunity to answer them against Mumbai City FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium here on Tuesday.

Of particular interest will be its set-piece defending, susceptibility to pace and energy on the counter and the ball distribution skills of its three-man defence, each of which came under the scanner against Delhi.

“The set-piece defending was not good,” said Chennaiyin FC assistant coach Vivek Nagul. “We went back to the drawing board and have discussed it. Hopefully, we won’t repeat the mistakes.”

Chennai has so far ridden on the exploits of three talismanic figures — Frenchman Bernard Mendy in defence, captain Bojan Djordjic as a deep-lying playmaker and the Brazilian marquee-signing Elano upfront.

Elano has, in fact, scored three of the team’s five goals and Djordjic has soldiered on remarkably despite being half-fit. The need is to find new stars to complement their efforts.

“We are not over-dependent on Elano,” said Nagul. “Bojan has indeed struggled with his fitness. So we need to take care of him. But, we have a good bench and others will step in.”

For Mumbai, it has been a topsy-turvy start. An emphatic 5-0 victory over FC Pune City was sandwiched between two dispiriting losses.

However, it will be bolstered by French striker Nicolas Anelka’s return from a three-match ban. “Anelka will play,” said coach Peter Reid.

“His training has been first class and he has been very professional.”

How Chennai will repel his attacks remains to be seen even as Nagul talked about “keeping more possession and over-loading the midfield.”

Mumbai has also been plagued by its lack of discipline on the field.

In its previous match against NorthEast United FC, it finished with nine men. “We have made silly fouls and it has cost us. Chennai has Elano whose dead-ball skills are top-notch. The key is to not concede (fouls),” he said.

Of additional concern is the lack of creativity in the final third.

Injury to marquee-signing Freddie Ljungberg, which has seen him play just 30 minutes so far, has certainly not helped while the spark has been missing in Andre Moritz’s absence.

“With a player of Moritz’s quality, you do miss him.

“But, sometimes we need to give credit to the opposition. And so far, we haven’t helped ourselves as well (with the fouls).”

On Tuesday, Mumbai can call upon a fully-fit Moritz, about whom Reid said he had no qualms about lasting 90 minutes. Midfielder Syed Rahim Nabi has also recovered sufficiently.

For Chennai, defender Abhishek Das will miss the game due to an injury he sustained against Kerala Blasters.

http://www.thehindu.com/sport/football/chennaiyin-fc-look-to-bounce-back-against-mumbai/article6538417.ece

It’s time the sport’s structure in India is set right

When the $50,000 KPIT ATP Challenger tennis tournament gets underway in Pune on Monday, it will be a step in the right direction for Indian tennis. It will be the fifth Challenger tournament this year. For a country which last hosted one six years ago, having five is a giant leap. Spain, in 2014, accounted for two. Japan, a rising Asian power, has three.

But it betrays a certain inconsistency. For players to climb the ladder, testing their skills against quality opponents, it is necessary to have a pyramid-like structure of tournaments. This involves sufficient $10,000 Futures for entrants, $15,000 events for more ranking points, $50,000 and $100,000 Challengers to get to the doorstep of the ATP tour and finally ATP Tour events themselves.

In India, over the past few years, these have not co-existed. The ATP Chennai Open has been around since 1997 but there were hardly any Challengers. Now when Challengers have sprung up, the $10,000 Futures have dwindled and the $15,000 Futures stagnated. While 2012 saw 17 Futures (15 $10,000 and 2 $15,000), it reduced to 11 (9 and 2) in 2013 and eight in all (including three more to come) in 2014.

Suraj R. Prabodh, a top-ranking junior from Karnataka before he started competing in Futures, said, “We were told there would be enough tournaments. We thought we could play here and our parents could accompany us as we are very young. But now I have to go abroad even to defend last year’s points. I need to travel alone because of the huge costs.” Karnataka, after hosting six Futures in 2012, has hosted none since.

Patchy history

Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association secretary Sunder Raju conceded that their “history has been patchy,” but said, “Sponsorship is the biggest problem. Finding it is a draining exercise. Associations are not robust enough as office-bearers are honorary. So we are revisiting the whole thing.”

The effect this has on tennis in a country can be clearly gauged. In the 2014 calendar, France had 24 Futures and 10 Challengers. Italy 38 (highest) and 19. France has 19 players in the top-200 and Italy 10.

India has only two in the top-200.

Indian players who took advantage of the Futures in 2012 saw their rankings rise to the 300s. But they stagnated without enough $15,000 Futures in the subsequent years. A winner of a $10,000 tournament gets 18 points, while in a $15,000 tournament, with hospitality and a near similar depth of field, a second-place finish gives 20 points.

Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, who broke into the 300s in late 2012 and is currently ranked 328, said, “We wouldn’t always want to go into a tournament where only a victory will cap it as a good week. In today’s game there is pressure. It goes unsaid. But nobody would want it at every tournament.”

In recent years even non-traditional tennis countries like Egypt and Turkey have hosted more than 30 Futures a year. While these are privately funded with the local associations having next to no role, they have proved beneficial. As recently as September, Ramkumar Ramanathan, India’s third-best singles player, reached his career-best ranking of 260 after winning back-to-back tournaments in Turkey. This ranking will now give him a direct entry to a Challenger.

Karti P. Chidambaram, vice-president of the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association, which has hosted 15 of the 36 Futures in the past three years, said that there was no fundraising at the AITA level.

Financially unviable

“An ITF $10,000 is financially unviable,” he said. “In cricket, the BCCI pumps money from the top. But where is the money here? They need to find a national sponsor who can allot around 250,000 dollars and commit to 25 Futures a year.”

On his part, Anil Khanna, president, All India Tennis Association, insisted India was doing “something remarkable”.

“Last year we had 40 weeks of international tennis (including Road to Wimbledon, Davis Cup). This year we have five Challengers. For three years we have had nine ITF juniors, the fourth highest in the world. In Asia we are among the top three. (But) these tournaments have zero spectator and commercial interests. We want the government to step in and efforts are being made.”

These efforts have to be made quickly. World tennis is increasingly looking at Asia as its next market. Japan’s Kei Nishikori and China’s Li Na have inspired a generation of youngsters. For India to have its own superstar it’s imperative that the structure be set right.

http://www.thehindu.com/sport/tennis/its-time-the-sports-structure-in-india-is-set-right/article6517137.ece