Skip to main content

Indian football enthusiasts behave like fans from Europe: City Football Group CEO

Representative image

Leeds [UK], Nov 29 (ANI): After acquiring a major stake in Indian Super League (ISL) side Mumbai City FC, Ferran Soriano, CEO of City Football Club (CFC) said that the Indian football enthusiasts behave like fans from Europe and there is no doubt that the country will become a major football nation in the coming years.
CFC, the owners of the English Premier League side, Manchester City on Thursday announced that they have acquired 65 per cent stake in the club. the remaining 35 per cent will continue to be owned by Bimal Parekh and Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor.
Mumbai City has now become the eighth club in the world and third in Asia to be acquired by the CFC.
"The first thing is the size of the country and 1.3 billion people. The second thing is that we have visited India in past. There is a passion, there is talent. The fans that watch the game understand the game. They behave like fans from Europe. There is no doubt that India is going to be a football nation. The only question is if it is going to take 10 or five years," Goal.com quoted Soriano as saying.
CFC also has a stake in an American club. Soriano said that Mumbai feels like New York and he is sure that football will truly be successful in the Indian city.
"Mumbai is a fantastic city. It feels like New York. In New York, we have been very successful. We started six years ago from nothing and we did very well. I think Mumbai is a cosmopolitan city and I am hundred per cent sure football will be successful in Mumbai," Soriano said.
Pep Guardiola, who is the current coach of Manchester City can also come down to help Mumbai City as Soriano did not rule out the possibility. He said that the ultimate goal will be to make Indian football grow.
"As I said we are not here to import anything. We are here to help unleash the power of Indian football. Maybe you don't realise how much power is already there. There are good players and coaches and we will help them," Soriano said.
"Help means sharing experiences, sharing technology, inspiring them. That is what we aim to do. Maybe we will bring some people, for sure but ultimately we will unleash the power of Indian football," he added. (ANI)



via Sify.com https://ift.tt/2XXVMfY

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

RB Leipzig's Jean-Kevin Augustin joins Leeds United on loan

Leeds [UK], Jan 27 (ANI): German football club RB Leipzig's Jean-Kevin Augustin on Monday joined Leeds United on a loan. The striker joins the Whites on an initial loan deal until the end of the season from Bundesliga outfit Red Bull Leipzig, the club said in a statement. Augustin joined the RB Leipzig in July, 2017 for a fee of 13 million Euros. The 22-year-old featured in both the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League during his time with the German club, who finished sixth and third in his two seasons, where he scored 20 goals in 67 matches. French national helped his country win the European Under-19 Championship in 2016, where he scored the most number of goals and was adjudged as player of the tournament. Augustin is Leeds' third signing of the January transfer window following the joining of Elia Caprile and Ian Poveda. (ANI) via Sify.com https://ift.tt/2OiruB9

Chelsea are a young team, need to improve a lot: Kovacic

London: Chelsea's Mateo Kovacic said they are a young team and need to improve a lot. Chelsea secured a 2-1 win over Hull City on Saturday in FA Cup. Michy Batshuayi scored the opening goal of the match in the sixth minute and Chelsea's second goal was scored in the 64th minute. "It was a tough game, as we knew that it would be, but we need to score in the first half two more goals. That's our problem in this moment but obviously we're happy to go through," the club's official website quoted Kovacic as saying. "It was because we didn't score on time - we had some chances and we didn't use them. In training, we are working on it but we are still a young team, a new team, and we need to improve a lot. We need to take our chances, which in this moment we are not doing great, but we have time to improve and I am sure we will do," he added. Chelsea are currently placed at the fourth position in the Premier League table with 40 points...

Chelsea are a young team, need to improve a lot: Kovacic

London [UK], Jan 27 (ANI): Chelsea's Mateo Kovacic said they are a young team and need to improve a lot. Chelsea secured a 2-1 win over Hull City on Saturday in FA Cup. Michy Batshuayi scored the opening goal of the match in the sixth minute and Chelsea's second goal was scored in the 64th minute. "It was a tough game, as we knew that it would be, but we need to score in the first half two more goals. That's our problem in this moment but obviously we're happy to go through," the club's official website quoted Kovacic as saying. "It was because we didn't score on time - we had some chances and we didn't use them. In training, we are working on it but we are still a young team, a new team, and we need to improve a lot. We need to take our chances, which in this moment we are not doing great, but we have time to improve and I am sure we will do," he added. Chelsea are currently placed at the fourth position in the Premier League table ...