ISL: Harder Than Last Time

Lucio, the former Bayern Munich and Inter Milan DEFENDER spoke to N. SUDARSHAN on how the ISL has changed, on defending, on Brazilian football and on Jose Mourinho.

- N. Sudarshan

The inaugural season of theIndian Super League (ISL)was built on the strengthof its marquee players. It was the likes of Robert Pires, Alessandro Del Piero and David Trezeguet who attracted much of the eyeballs. However, in the days since, this sheen has reduced considerably with teams gradually shifting towards acquiring players who are more effective on the pitch rather than off it.

Perhaps no one knows it better than FC Goa’s Lucio. The Brazilian World Cup winner started in 14 of his team’s 17 matches in the run to the final last year and wasn’t substituted even once. This year, though, he has seen his playing time cut in Goa’s insipid start to the League and age seems to be finally catching up with the 38-year-old.

The former Bayern Munich and Inter Milan defender spoke to Sportstar on how the ISL has changed, on defending, on Brazilian football and on Jose Mourinho.

Excerpts:

Question: This is your second year in the ISL. How has it been?

Answer: So far it’s been harder than last time. Last year we were winning more games. The team was happier. As a team we are much better than the current level at which we are. But the tournament is much stronger too. The teams have strengthened their squads well. So we can see new players, good quality players and I would say that the level of play is higher.

Through this, has any Indian player caught your eye?

Last year we [FC Goa] had Prannoy Halder and Bikramjit Singh who were good young players. And I like Romeo Fernandes’ and Mandar Rao Dessai’s styles of playing.