Zico, the ISL and ATK

Zico might have been a great footballer, but the White Pele is perhaps one of the best players not to have won a World Cup ever. Maybe that's why he considers qualifying to the semi finals of the ISL as one of the greatest moments of his career. It's commendable how he has engineered the uphill task after a poor start by FC Goa to the tournament.

The moment I entered the Salt Lake Stadium, I knew the crowd wasn't going to let Zico go away with a victory, a result that would eliminate the home team Atletico de Kolkata out of the tournament. As the starting XI was being announced, the stadium cheered every name. The presence of 36 year old marquee signing Luis Garcia on the bench, raised doubts on his fitness, but Kolkata seemed to go with whatever they had.

Chelsea get a trophy, and some other things in Football

A disappointing season with a silver lining. I am not very proud of a Europa League, considering prior to this year, I have always wondered what this Thursday night competition was all about, but ending the season with at least one trophy is highly satisfying(considering websites like this exist). I am not a fan of Rafa Benitez, but I am happy that he guided the club to atleast one trophy (after losing the CWC, Premier League, FA Cup and Capital One Cup on the way).

Lord Heskey

Emile Heskey- the bad ass of English football. With 62 appearances for the national team,  he finally decided to call it quits after the 2010 World Cup. Having played for Liverpool and Birmingham City in the past, and after Aston Villa did the blunder of releasing him as a free agent earlier this year, he signed for Aussie club Newcastle Jets, and is the top scorer in the league now. He is perhaps the most trolled football player, only after Balotelli. Here is a collection of them.

Football vs Cricket: Why I prefer Football

As a child, I loved Cricket. Believe me, every one in the country does. And once you start watching it, you get glued. However, over the years, my focus has shifted towards football (soccer?) and cricket just doesn't excite me anymore. If I wonder how that happened, I come up with a lot of things, in particular the ones listed below.

Vengeance in Catalonia

The second leg between Chelsea and Barcelona at the Camp Nou, at 81 minutes and 15 seconds, Alexis Sanchez put the ball at the back of the net. The TV room at the Rajiv Bhawan roared to life. The word 'Heartbreak' popped into my mind, images of the 93rd minute goal from Iniesta three years ago came flashing back. Such was the atmosphere there that we failed to hear the commentator shouting,

Offside. Offside, it won't count, it's offside. The flag went up before Sanchez hit the ball. 

My heart skipped a beat, so did every Chelsea supporter's around the globe.