Tags:
Journalism of Courage
On hearing the knock on the hotel room door, a rather faint voice said: 8216;8216;Come in8217;8217;. Inside, the tall and wiry Cristiano Delima Junior from Brasilia was half-sitting on his hotel bed, bare-chested but with a thin blanket pulled over.
8216;8216;Meeting you after your stint with East Bengal. Just wanted to have a chat with you,8217;8217; this reporter said. 8216;8216;Yes, yes8217;8217; he nodded willingly, and rattled off answers to the questions thrown at him. He also talked, almost spontaneously, on topics that were of interest to him.
Indeed, by the end he8217;d begun to ask questions about football in Bangalore and other parts of the country. There was no arrogance about the prolific striker, just an obvious pride at coming from Brazil.
In his second season in India, the Brazilian appeared concerned about football standards in the country. 8216;8216;If I can contribute something towards this, I will be too happy,8217;8217; Junior had said.
In no hurry whatsoever and totally at ease, the Brazilian wrote down the names of clubs he8217;d played for back home. Sao Raimundo, America, Vasco Da Gama, Criciuma, Sampaio Correia, Olario8230;. 8216;8216;You will get them wrong otherwise8217;8217;, he smiled.
From all those clubs, he was clear on his most abiding memory: Playing alongside Romario, the 1994 World Cup winner. 8216;8216;No player like Romario. He is the best. Simply practising with him is a huge inspiration. I also like Ronaldo. I try to play like them. But you know, they are just too good,8217;8217; he said with pride swelling in his big, brown eyes.
How did he keep up his phenomenal goal-scoring rate?
8216;8216;I always strike when the defence thinks Junior will not score today.
8220;Or that Junior is not in form today and they relax their guard,8217;8217; Junior said.
