ISL: What Alessandro Nesta brings to Chennaiyin FC

Alessandro Nesta (L) will move to India to team up with Italian Marco Materazzi

In football, there are two types of players. One, those larger than life characters, who would often leave the team behind for attaining personal goals. The sort of players that get in between the team and progress. The second type of players – ones that would give anything for the group as a whole, to reach greater heights.

Very few players typify the second group more than Alessandro Nesta. During an illustrious career that spanned the best part of two decades since 1993, Nesta looked laid back on the field, almost disinterested. But, as they say, looks are deceptive. Nesta's hunger and will to win and the determination to succeed was and will continue to be very difficult to match. When he stepped on to the football pitch, he meant business.

Chennaiyin FC will join illustrious names like Italian giants AC Milan and Lazio as teams graced by Nesta's presence. With mercurial Colombian, John Stiven Mendoza ruled out for the rest of the tournament, Chennai could have easily had their eyes on signing another attacker, but when the opportunity to sign Nesta came calling, it was one that Marco Materazzi could not refuse.

Nesta won't feature for Chennai at least until the 9th of December. That means he will at most, play the last league game against Delhi Dynamos, and then the knockout stages. The knockout stages of any tournament are times when a team needs big players. Players who are up for the big occasion, and have prior experience of having been there, done that.

Nesta adds to a reasonably strong Chennai squad, with Materazzi, Mikael Silvestre, Elano and Bernard Mendy all having been part of such occasions in European football.

What stood out the most about Nesta at both Lazio and Milan was his incredible reading of the game. It seemed like he always knew where the next pass was going, and where the opposition attacker was going to make his next run. Even with those abilities, it was only because of his gluttony appetite and unparalleled desire that he managed to be as successful as he was.

Alessandro Nesta’s career so far

Nesta started off his senior career in 1993, for Lazio under the guidance of the legendary Dino Zoff. Such was Nesta's impact that it took just four years from his debut for him to be named as captain of his beloved childhood club.

After Lazio sold him to AC Milan in the midst of serious financial trouble, Nesta went on to form one of the fabled defensive partnerships that the beautiful game has ever seen. Paolo Maldini had already acquired legendary status at Millan by the time Nesta joined him. But, even in the early stages, not for once did Nesta look like Maldini's understudy. Instead, having Nesta alongside, Maldini raised his game to a different level altogether. The Nesta-Maldini partnership typified everything that Italian football stood for.

Firm, resolute, hungry, determined and most of all, having a fantastic mind for football. When Maldini called time on his career in 2009, Milan named Massimo Ambrosini as captain, but Nesta did not need a captain's armband to show his leadership qualities. Nesta took the likes of Thiago Silva and Ignazio Abate under his wings and molded them to being the fine defenders that they are today.

For the likes of Gouramangi Singh, Dhanachandra Singh and Abhishek Das, this would mean so much. The opportunity to learn from one of the world's greatest is not one that comes along too often for Indian footballers, and all the Indians in the team would be so eager to be taken under Nesta's tutelage.

But, Nesta's biggest influence on Chennaiyin would be if he manages to pass on his big match temperament to his new team mates. If he can, then Chennai can definitely look ahead to a good night on the 20^th of December.