Bhutia

MUMBAI, January 12: His favourite players are Michael Chang and Michael Jordan, but he excels in neither sport, thought he plays both.Ever s...

MUMBAI, January 12: His favourite players are Michael Chang and Michael Jordan, but he excels in neither sport, thought he plays both.

Ever since he got into professional football, Bhaichung Bhutia has done wonders with his magical feet and given the dying sport a fresh lease of life. The second highest paid player after I M Vijayan of FC Kochin 8212; who is one of Bhutia8217;s favourite players 8212; he, along with Vijayan, forms the most lethal strike-force in the country.

Bhutia8217;s success-run started in 1987 when he was spotted by coaches of a talent spot program run by the Sports Authority of India. After joining SAI, he impressed everybody, including coach Manash Chakraborty with his unusual ball and body control. After the programme, he joined Boys Club, a local club in his home town. Brilliant performance in a local tournament fetched him a place in P K Bannerjee8217;s East Bengal football club in 1993 and propelled him to stardom.

Bhutia was born at Tinkitam on December 15, 1976 in a small town near Gangtok, to a family of two elder brothers and a sister. Having no access to other games, he took up football from primary school itself, although there was no support from his parents who wanted him to excel in academics.

After finishing sixth standard at St Xavier School where he was known as Bhaila, he joined the Tashi Namgyal Academy Gangtok. He got his higher secondary certificate from Calcutta as he joined East Bengal after a stint at SAI.

His East Bengal debut was against Bangladesh8217;s Victoria FC as a substitute in Airlines Gold Cup at Calcutta. From then on, Bhutia has never looked back. Scoring spectacular goals became synonymous with his name, the winning goal against Uzbekistan during Nehru Cup at Calcutta being his favourite.

Since the 1995 Santosh Trophy final, where he stunned Punjab with a scissor-kick golden goal, spectators everywhere wanted a glimpse of the Sikkimese8217;s potential.

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The man who holds Diego Maradona in high esteem, donned country colours from the 8217;95 season and has played in all India8217;s matches since then.

After two seasons with East Bengal, Bhutia moved to Jagatjit Cotton Textiles JCT, Phagwara for the 1996-97 season where he, along with IM Vijayan, Carlton Chapman and Stephen Abrawoi helped JCT win the inaugural Philips National Football League.

After NFL, the All-India Football Federation restricted the number of matches to be played in a season by a team to 45 a year. Earlier, there was no such provision, which had led to the exploitation of players, especially in Calcutta8217;s clubs. One of the reasons why Bhutia left East Bengal in 8217;96. After the 8217;97 season with JCT, Bhutia went back to Calcutta to rejoin the Bengal tigers and play alongside Bijen and Renedy Singh, who he considers as players for the future.

One of the few sportsmen other than Indian cricketers to win contracts with the worldwide sports brand Reebock, International Management Group and McDowell8217;s, Bhutia8217;s day starts with a small walk. From his flat to East Bengal Club Ground where he indulges in routine physical work and training with his coach Manoranjan Bhattacharya and P K Banerjee. In the evening, the striker, who considers Brazilian Roberto Carlos as the player to watch in France 8217;98, tries his hand at basketball and volleyball.

But soccer is not just for kicks.