Foreign brigade’s time out

Ever wondered what the foreign brigade in the I-league do when they are off the green patch?

The I-league is now a global union and every team has foreign players plying their trade here. But they can’t be playing football all the time, could they?

Take for instance, Dempo’s Roberto Mendes Silva (Beto). The Brazilian ace may be a lethal machine on the pitch, but off it, he is a quiet family man.

“I use to party earlier, when I was new here and much younger, but now it is very different. I now spend all my time with my two lovely daughters and beautiful wife,” says Beto.

But he says if it had not been for Goa, it might have been much difficult. “Goa is very different to the rest of India. There are the beaches like in Brazil and people speak Portuguese. In any other city I might have had a trickier time adjusting,” adds the midfielder.

His Congolese teammate, Mboyo Iyomi, on the other hand loves watching movies and though he says that French is his first language, he loves watching Hollywood as well as Bollywood movies.

“I don’t understand what they are saying in a Hindi movie but I like watching them. Shah Rukh Khan is a good actor, that’s what everyone tells me,” quips Iyomi.
However he shies away when asked who is favourite actress was, “Umm… I like all of them,” he says diplomatically.

Air India’s Chukwumu Udofia says that he rather spend time with Mighty Lord. “I make sure that all the time I have I spend in the church. It is good to pray and thank the lord for what he has given us,” says Udofia.

The Nigerian adds that he hoped he had more time to visit his country, but with such a tight schedule it just is not possible.