A host of former India football internationals, including Goa’s Bruno Coutinho and Alvito D’Cunha, will feature in an exhibition match to be played at the Ambedkar Stadium in Delhi on Tuesday afternoon.
PanajirrBruno and Alvito will be joined by other India greats, the likes of Bhaichung Bhutia, IM Vijayan, Renedy Singh, Bijen Singh, Carlton Chapman, Basudev Mondal and Somatai Shaiza, football website Goal has reported.rThe stalwarts will play for an ‘Indian Legends XI’ -- a team consisting of former greats -- that is being formed on the lines of the veterans’ teams most top European football clubs have. They will be locking horns against a selection of U-19 players, who have been taking part in Oorja - the football talent hunt tournament being run by Central Armed Police Force.rThough the spectators will have a free entry at the venue, the footballers have decided to donate a part of their appearance money to Bhaskar Ganguly, the former India national team captain who worked as the goalkeeper coach of East Bengal for a month last season after the sacking of Trevor James Morgan. Ganguly was the one who had scouted a teenaged Bhutia and persuaded East Bengal to sign him when he was nineteen years old. rArjun Rai, an official of the erstwhile I-League team United Sikkim FC is working as the manager of the club. “The players will arrive in the city by Monday evening. The match is expected to kick off at 4.30 pm on Tuesday,” Goal quoted him as saying.rMany of these footballers have golden memories of the city because of their heroics in Nehru Cup and Durand Cup and it will be interesting to see whether the football fans of the city flock to the ground to catch them in action after long.
