North-East could be the South America of Indian football: NorthEast United coach Cesar Farias
The first season of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) was a grand success in the north-eastern part of the country as the fans poured in at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in Guwahati to support their North-East United side. Unfortunately for the Highlanders, the campaign was curtailed at the end of the league stage as NorthEast United failed to make the semi-finals.
But this season, John Abraham’s men are back with a new vigour and zest. More importantly they are under the new management of Venezuelan manager Cesar Farias who earned his name when he took the Venezuelan National Team to the semi-finals of the Copa America in 2011.
North-East India is like South America with so many different cultures: Farias
The Venezuelan is feeling more than home in the north-east as the manager likened the north-east to the land he belonged to. “I like it here in the north-east of India. It is very similar to South America in terms of having multiple cultures.
“We have many cultures in South America and it is the same here. But most importantly we share a common culture and that’s football,” expressed Farias.
Farias drew comparisons with the abundance of footballing talent he has seen back home in Venezuela and other South American countries to what he has seen so far in the north-east.
“I have seen so much of talent here that it is amazing for a country like India, where football is not the main sport. I feel the north-east has plenty of talent and I can see them giving Indian as well as world football plenty of players in the future, just like how South America has done over the years,” added the ex-Venezuelan boss.
The views of Farias are well justified by the NorthEast United fans who flock to the stadium to support their team whenever they play. The passion and the appetite for football portrayed by the Highlanders is in similar proportions to that seen on the South American continent.
So if Farias’ prediction does come true, India will soon find itself occupying a noteworthy place in the footballing world.