Kolkata: The dawn of the U-17 World Cup has attracted a lot of football legends from across the world to India in the recent months. The tournament is the greatest ever footballing event to be held in the country and the presence of these stars has added to the buzz and stardom to the marquee FIFA event.
Although not as great as the Brazilian Pele or the Argentine maestro Diego Maradona, he is one of the greatest from South America to have ever graced the game. Carlos Valderrama, undoubtedly the biggest name in football from Colombia, stressed on the need of maintaining discipline and respecting the coaches to grow as a footballer. But, at the same time play the game with happiness and joy said he, during an interaction with the aspiring footballers at an event at the Aditya School of Sports on Saturday.
He said, “You all have the talent, the coaches here will teach you how to improve yourself and become a better player. But, first of all you will have to be disciplined and respect the coaches.”
Stressing on the need of proper teamwork in football, he added, “The best thing for a footballer is to play football. The coaches of course will watch and analyse, but you run the show. You will have to play with happiness and enjoy the game.”
Nicknamed El Pibe (the kid), it was his distinctive hairstyle, talent and skillful playing style which made him one of the most elite footballers of the 1980s and 1990s. In 2004 Valderrama was included in the ‘FIFA 100’, a list of the 125 ‘greatest living footballers” and was also named as one of the top 100 players of the 20th century.
Valderrama interacts with the students (Image credit- Souryaprokas Bhaduri/SportsCrunch)
When asked to guide the players, Carlos politely refused saying, “I don’t want to say anything here (to the young footballers). I don’t want to input my own thoughts because the coaches here have been guiding you since day one. Respect for the coach is very important,” showing yet again why he is loved so much by fans across the world.
Calling India as a beautiful country the former midfield sensation said that the players are talented and they only need proper training and guidance from the coaches to taste success in football.
‘The Colombian ‘Player of the Century’ who made 111 appearances for the national team also captained his country to three World Cup tournaments. Talking of Colombia’s chances in the upcoming U-17 World Cup Valderrama said, “Colombia has a very good team. They will come to this beautiful land, where playing football is a passion and they will love it.”
“The World Cup in India will help the nation (Colombia) improve and prepare them for a bright future,” he concluded.
Edited by Souryaprokas Bhaduri