On Tuesday night, as Manchester United made a return to the UEFA Champions League group stages, they were reminded of just how no European team can be taken lightly. Interestingly, it was a man of Indian-origin who reminded the Red Devils, the perils of complacency at Europe’s high table. To add to the sub-plot, it was someone current Manchester United manager Louis Van Gaal and former teammate Memphis Depay knew pretty well.
PSV VS Man Utd
Things never went smoothly for the Red Devils in Netherlands as Luke Shaw suffered a horrific injury in the 15th minute that brought the match to a standstill. While Louis Van Gaal might have thought that it was business as usual when Memphis Depay scored the first goal after some fine trickery, but PSV equalized a few minutes later through Moreno who had tackled Shaw.
And then in the 56th minute, Andres Guardado sent in a wonderful cross which allowed Luciano Narsingh to head home from close range. As far as moments go, this was perhaps the most important sporting moments that had a footballer of Indian origin was part of.
Who is Luciano Narsingh?
Born in Amsterdam on 13 September 1990, Luciano Narsingh’s grandparents were contract workers from Andhra Pradesh who worked at Suriname, a former Dutch colony. Luciano, along with his older brother Furdjel were part of Ajax’s youth setup. However, Luciano was deemed too lightweight and he was picked up by Heerenveen.
He was particularly sensation in 2011-12 in the Dutch league as he set up 20 goals for his teammates, more than anyone else in the league. In July 1012, PSV Eindhoven signed him from Heerenveen for €4.1 million.
In 2012, he was part of the Euro squad of the Netherlands national team under Bert van Marwijk, though he didn’t get a game. He was also part of current Manchester United manager Louis Van Gaal’s World Cup squad and even scored against Turkey in the World Cup qualifiers. However, an injury meant he missed out on the spot. It’s of course important to note that Narsingh’s involvement also would’ve been hampered by the fact that a certain Arjen Robben operates on Narsingh’s preferred right flank.
In 2012, Ron Jans, former coach of SC Heerenveen had said that Narsingh had the talent to match the best in the country. "Luciano is one of the quickest players to have ever played in Holland, his speed is simply phenomenal. His vision is absolutely incredible, he can spot the smallest openings and pick out runs of the other forwards and execute passes with pin-point precision.”
The Comeback
In 2013 however, Narsingh suffered a serious injury which required surgery and kept him out for the better part of the season. By the time he returned from injury, Dick Advocaat had been replaced by current coach Phillip Cocu who it seemed didn’t favour him. However, he was picked for the big match at Amsterdam Arena against Ajax.
It seemed like business as usual as Ajax lead 1-0 but then the winger picked up the ball on the right, and set up current Manchester United man Memphis Depay for a simple tap in. Eleven minutes later, he picked up a superb ball from Luuk De Jon and beat the Ajax keeper Jasper Cillessen with an angled shot as PSV ran out 3-1 winners.
It’s amazing that his comeback came against the club who deemed him too light-weight in his childhood. Not only did PSV beat the more-fancied Ajax, this match also symbolised the return of Narsingh into Dutch consciousness and PSV would go on to win the league for the first time since 2008, ending Ajax’s four-year dominance. It was Narsingh who scored the goal that secured the title, after two goals by Luuk De Jong and a free-kick by Depay against his old club.
And that’s how Narsingh found himself playing against both his former Dutch manager Louis Van Gaal and teammate Memphis Depay in the Champions League. It’s fair to say that they wouldn’t have been surprised by the winger’s contribution.
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