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The eight teams in the inaugral edition of the much-awaited ISL have splurged their cash on ten foreigners each, and it is the star value attached to some of these big names that is the primary allure of the tournament, which is slated to kick off on October 12. From October to December, the Indian football scene is to be filled with players of similar stature rubbing shoulders with their Indian counterparts.Some foreigners have been brought in to ‘raise the profile of the game in India’. But considering the money and publicity that the ISL has generated, they will be in no mood to roll over. There are also promising youngsters spotted from foreign countries. Such is the promise being seen in some quarters regarding the ISL that it is being touted to be a mini English Premier League in the future. Following is a team of 11 featuring the most accomplished foreigners to feature in this season, with some consideration made for recent form.
#1 Alexandros Tzorvas - NorthEast United
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Age: 32Club: NorthEast UnitedPrevious Club: Apollon Smyrni
The team from the highlands have ensured that their goal is impermeable with the signing of this Greek goalkeeper, the first choice for his country at the 2010 World Cup and 2012 European Championship.
Tzorvas has also played in the Europa League for Panathinaikos, of which team’s youth academy he is a product. Because his role was confined to being an understudy to senior player Antonis Nikopolidis in Greece, he shifted his club base to the Serie A, with Palermo and Genoa. His shot-stopping powers were called upon by the Greek national set-up after the retirement of Nikopolidis.
Tzorvas’ most sparkling performance was in the two-leg Greece vs Ukraine play-off match to decide who would travel to South Africa for the 2010 World Cup, where he kept out a prodding Ukranian attack for the whole 180 minutes.
#2 Andre Santos - FC Goa
Age: 31Club: FC GoaPrevious Club: Flamengo
Andre Santos is a Brazilian international with 24 caps, and had a part to play in his country’s 2010 Confederations Cup triumph.
He has played for most of the premier clubs in his country’s domestic league, and in 2009 moved to Fenerbahce. In Turkey over the next couple of seasons, he grew to be one of the top-scoring defenders in Europe, such that Arsenal brought him to England in 2011. He struggled to find first-team opportunities in the English Premier League and moved back to Brazil last year.
Goa’s Brazilian coach has reason to bring this specialist on the left side along on his Indian mission, and Santos may well combine with the other ex-Arsenal player Robert Pires to preserve the city’s reputation of being the footballing hotbed of the country.
#3 Manuel Friedrich - Mumbai City
Age: 35Club: Mumbai CityPrevious Club: Borussia Dortmund
This veteran German defender has been knocking on the doors for a place in the German back-line for many years, and has nine caps for the current world champions to show from his long career.
Friedrich has spent his most successful years as a central defender for Bayer Leverkusen, having achieved second spot in the Bundesliga in the 2010/11 season and featuring in the UEFA Champions League; most remembered for a last minute header to seal a 2-1 victory over Chelsea in 2011.
After injuries to Borussia Dortmund’s centre backs Mats Hummels and Neven Subotic at the beginning of last season, Friedrich was drafted in as emergency cover.
Even at 35, Friedrich is clearly not very far from the top of his game, whether his legs can adapt to the weather and pitch conditions in India will be the important question.
#4 Mikael Silvestre - Chennayin FC
Age: 37Club: Chennayin FCPrevious Club: Portland Timbers
Recently seen more as a television pundit than player, Silvestre’s strengths have always been his ability to read situations in a flash. Though he has been passing more correct judgements than making correct tackles in the last year, Silvestre was a very sought-after defender in his heydays.
He has been in and out of the France national team, and has 40 international caps in his career. He is one of the very few players in history to have had successful spells at both Manchester United and Arsenal.
Time has slowed down the likeable 37-year-old, as seen from the limited appearances he made last year in the MLS. But he is sure to be a reassuring and commanding presence at the back for Chennayin FC.
#5 Miguel Garcia - NorthEast United
Age: 31Club: NorthEast UnitedPrevious Club: Mallorca
Miguel Garcia is a right-back who can also be deployed as a holding midfielder. The Portuguese is a graduate from Sporting Lisbon’s youth academy and arrives with a big reputation of having played in many countries and in many prestigious tournaments.
He has an UEFA Cup semi-final goal for the Lisbon outfit to his name, and the rest of his career has been played out at Reggina and Sporting Braga, for whom he has a UEFA Cup final appearance as well.
Garcia has represented his nation in the U-21 level, but has not made it to the senior squad.
#6 Kostas Katsouranis - Pune City
Age: 35Club: Pune CityPrevious Club: PAOK
Pune’s Kostas Katsouranis is the player in this edition of the ISL who has been most recently seen in prestigous tournaments; namely as captain of the Greek team in the 2014 World Cup. He also played an instrumental part in the unlikely Greek conquest of the Euro Cup in 2004.
Katsouranis is strong in the air and comes with the repuation of being a wall of a defender, and has years of experience playing for top notch clubs like Benfica, AEK Athens, Panathinaikos and PAOK. Despite being a defensive midfielder, Katsouranis has boundless energy in running into opposition territory, such that he embodies the box-to-box midfielder.
Never one to slacken, Katsouranis has said that he has practised for the ISL with the Greek gymnastics team and that he feels fit to start.
“The temperature may be hot and humid but I am ready. And anyway football is played from the heart.”
The Greek’s philosophy and leadership qualities are the biggest things Pune will be looking towards for inspiration.
#7 Luis Garcia - Atletico de Kolkata
Age: 36Club: Atletico de KolkataPrevious Club: Pumas UNAM
Luis Garcia had his football training in La Masia, but showed his class turning out for various clubs in a long career.
There is no doubt that this Spaniard is past his prime – he retired earlier this year, only to retract his decision on being invited to the ISL – but fans will be waiting with bated breath every time the ball is at his feet, for glimpses of the audacious skills and touches he was famous for.
Garcia played for Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Panathinaikos. But his best days came as a Liverpool player. He was part of the miraculous 2005 European Champions League campaign for the Reds which culminated with the title in Istanbul. His form at Liverpool brought about a national team call-up for Spain, but his erratic form meant that he could never consolidate his place.
Garcia is a natural left-footer and is most comfortable on the left side of the attacking third. As a testament to the love Luis Garcia can incite in his club’s fans, Liverpool supporters have a song in his name which they sing to the tune of ‘You are my Sunshine’:
Luis GarcíaHe drinks SangriaHe came from Barça to bring us joy!He's five-foot seven, he's football heavenSo please don't take our Luis away!
#8 Robert Pires - FC Goa
Age: 40Club: FC GoaPrevious Club: Aston Villa
It has been three years since Pires has played in a competitive match, but he has been training with the Arsenal first team squad on a regular basis – perhaps in wait for an opportunity like this to come up. There are only a few, however, who can match Pires’ record in the domestic circuit in the first decade of this millennium.
Pires was the orchestrator-in-chief for Arsenal during their most glorious years, when they were known as The Invincibles, frequently undermining his playmaker’s role by scoring wonder-goals from unbelievable positions and angles. Later in his career, Pires captained Villarreal to a second place finish in La Liga in 2009.
Pires has played extensively for the French national team, having won 79 caps and scored 14 international goals. He was part of the victorious French teams from the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 Euro Cup.
#9 Freddie Ljungberg - Mumbai City
Age: 37Club: Mumbai CityPrevious Club: Shimizu S-Pulse
Freddie Ljungberg is a former Swedish international captain and still the face of several brands in Sweden and England, where he spent his most successful club career days.
It has been two years since he retired from football, but one can be sure this right-winger will be giving it his best shot to be at par with the younger generation. Also part of the Invincible generation at Arsenal, the sight of Pires playing against Ljungberg in the ISL is eagerly awaited, more so for Arsenal loyalists.
Ljungberg’s pace, technique and ball control make him one of the brightest attacking talents to have ever come from Sweden. He has scored 14 goals in 75 international matches, including two World Cups and two Euro Cups.
#10 Alessandro del Piero - Delhi Dynamos
Age: 39Club: Delhi DynamosPrevious Club: Sydney FC
Italy and Juventus legend Alessandro del Piero is arguably the biggest name to feature in the inaugural edition of the ISL. There is no major trophy that his cabinet does not hold – World Cup, Champions League, Euro League and so on.
Del Piero is Juventus’s all-time highest goalscorer, having faithfully featured in 705 matches and scored 290 goals. He did not desert his club when corruption scandals at the club saw them being punished and relegated to the Serie B, saying at the time, “A true gentleman never leaves his lady.”
He also holds a Golden Foot award, which pertains to personality and playing ability, and the Delhi franchisee will be looking to build their cult around this Italian wizard. Del Piero played for the Italian national team till 2008, winning 91 caps and scoring 27 goals.
Del Piero is a versatile attacker, he has often been used as the cog between the midfield and the lone striker, but he is equally adept at leading the forward line.
#11 Nicolas Anelka - Mumbai City
Age: 35Club: Mumbai CityPrevious Club: West Bromwich Albion
Nicolas Anelka is the quintessential striker with good aerial skills, strong and broad shoulders, and a good final touch – albeit always carrying the risk of raising some sort of controversy.
The self-proclaimed anti-establishment fighter is a veritable globe-trotter. His profession has taken him over continents, and one assumes India is the last stop in his checkered career.
Anelka has played for an unmatched number of ‘big clubs’, among them Paris Saint-Germain, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Manchester City, Fenerbahce, Chelsea and Juventus, scoring at will wherever he went but not quite finding himself at home. Before a much-publicized spat with national coach Raymond Domenech brought about a mutual parting of ways with the French national team, Anelka had also played in 69 international matches and found the back of the net 14 times.
He has the experience of having won two Premier League titles (with Arsenal and Chelsea), one Serie A title (with Juventus), and one Champions League title (with Real Madrid).
Substitutes
Such is the foreign talent in the tournament that the Foreigners XI must have a star-studded bench too – David James (Kerala Blasters), Joan Capdevilla (NorthEast United), Josemi (Atletico Kolkata), Borja Fernandes (Atletico Kolkata), Elano(Chennayin FC), David Trezeguet(Pune City), Michael Chopra(Kerala Blasters).
