Football and pasta. For an Italian, one cannot exist without the other. So when a half-a-dozen Italians sat around a table for their meal at their team hotel in Pune, it didn’t take long for them to sense something was amiss.

Here’s a trade secret. Instead of the freshly rolled out pasta made from a hand-kneaded dough, most Indian restaurants use the pre-prepared frozen variety. And it was something that the Pune Italians didn’t like. It was like forcing an Indian to have frozen chapati day after day. The players sought a meeting with the higher-ups and explained their predicament. Almost immediately, a chef from Mumbai was flown down to travel with the team and meet their food requirements.

Very soon, the Pune team management realised their responsibilities would extend much beyond the playing field. And while they were quick to discover a local solution for perfect pasta, the Pune officials would be hoping their Italian imports have an answer for the substandard football that has long being served to the Indians.

The answer to that won’t be immediately known. But it will start to unravel slowly as the ambitious Indian Super League (ISL) kicks off on Sunday, when Atletico Kolkata and Mumbai City battle it out at a shrunk Salt Lake Stadium.

Attracted by its lucrative pay day, former stars like Alessandro del Piero, Nicolas Anelka, Robert Pires, David Trezeguet and Freddie Ljungberg, among others, have agreed to make a short stop-over in India, dusting off their boots, ready for a final fling. And as these stars, along with almost 50 other foreign players, take a plunge into the unknown, their adventurous streak is what will take them past the finish line.

“It is an adventure, playing in a new environment in a different set-up and in a country which is not known for its football. But with a little sense of humour and willingness to experiment, it can be dealt with. That’s the most exciting part of our jobs,” Pires said soon after landing in Goa.

Fun, experiment

And early reports suggest that players are having fun while experimenting. Pune City players have formed a Whatsapp group, the main purpose of which is to coordinate their training schedule and other team activities. However, it has also turned into forum where the players indulge in some leg-pulling, sharing a laugh at each other’s expense.

All players are a part of it, even though they might not speak or understand English. Pune’s Korean midfielder Park Kwang-il is a butt of a few jokes and the team even have an introduction for the quick-footed player. “He doesn’t talk but he knows how to run,” they say of Park, who is expected to set the wings on fire.

And while their Equatorial Guinea striker Ivan Bolado is a self-confessed admirer of actress Bipasha Basu, Chennaiyin captain and forward Bojan Djordjic is eager to impress Abhishek Bachchan with his dancing skills. “Bojan tried dancing around and asked ‘Boss, how good or bad is this,’ and I told him it’s good for starters,” Bachchan says.

Chennai came into the ISL with a clear disadvantage, replacing Bangalore on the day of international draft. They had little time to research on the foreign players. Djordjic was one of their early buys, perhaps for the Serbian’s reputation of being a ‘natural leader’ who has won four league titles in as many countries.

It was for these reasons Chennaiyin’s player-manager Marco Materazzi selected him as the captain of the side. “Bojan has been instrumental in getting the players to gel. He keeps talking to everyone, wants to try the food and experience the culture,” Bachchan says.

Junior Bachchan adds that all the international players want to ‘milk’ the Indian experience.

“Some of the boys read about the history of Chennai. They have purchased magazines and pamphlets and they keep reading and learning,” he says. “They also keep asking the Indian players questions about the culture, where they are from, how it was growing up. It has just made the atmosphere seem like it’s one big family.”

Idea exchange

After almost every training session, Materazzi delivers a short motivational talk, stressing on the importance of adopting a winning mentality, psyching them up for the tournament. True to his explosive nature on the pitch, the rookie manager has developed an open atmosphere in the changing room, encouraging players to ask questions and debate.

In contrast, Mumbai’s star Anelka has kept a low profile in the two weeks but, along with Ljungberg, he has dished out a crash course to the young Indian players during training. Even the foreign players are learning to deal with the humidity of Mumbai. Their German centre-back Manuel Friedrich has been advised to bulk up before a match and add at least 2 kilos to his normal weight. “I’ve been told that you lose extra weight while playing here because of the heat. Adding 2kgs to my normal weight would balance things out,” the former Borusssia Dortmund defender says.

Mumbai’s assistant coach Steve Darby has been the binding force for his team. Darby, who has had a previous coaching experience with Mohun Bagan, has acted as a mediator between the Indian players and the foreigners, who are new to the culture. The Englishman says he is relishing the prospect of managing a club that doesn’t have much intrigue, perhaps a snide remark directed at Bagan. “It’s refreshing when the club you have joined is new and without entrenched politics or dogma, creating a positive and enjoyable atmosphere,” he says. “What I’ve learned is that India is 22 different countries within one, with massive cultural differences, as well as countless dialects. Although I believe in learning languages wherever I go, I am afraid that I gave up on mastering Hindi and Bengali.”

Ground reality

Most of the players have been left to contend with the deplorable training facilities. Practising on hard grounds and at training grounds with little facilities has been difficult to cope with. Pune, for instance, have used nearly half-a-dozen different grounds but haven’t been satisfied with the surface and other amenities.

During their first phase of training in Florence, Pune had little troubles. Their technical tie-up with Fiorentina ensured they get to train at world-class facilities. \

“We stayed at the city centre and could travel anywhere within 20-25 minutes. So the players could train twice a day and enjoy in the evening,” a team official says. “They had everything there, from gym to sauna and lockers. It was very convenient.”

Upon returning to India, they were faced with the reality.

Pune trained at the Police Ground, Symbiosis Ground and DSK’s facility, apart from a few others, but none could suit their requirements. With no showers or locker rooms, they are forced to return to the hotel sweaty and in their trainers, a unique first for many international players. “A few Indian players spoke to the management and informed them that the foreigners are finding tough to practice on hard surfaces. But there is no quick-fix to this,” a team official adds.

It’s a recurring theme, with players across teams facing similar problems at their training facilities. In that sense, the ISL comes with an asterisk mark. Lavish promises of developing Indian football and its infrastructure have been made. But it remains to be seen if this issue is dealt with as efficiently as the ‘pasta problem.’

Devan Daniel, Pune’s assistant manager, jokes: “In Italy we need our food to be a la dente (firm to bite). Even our sauces taste very different and very distinctive. So we made a request for the pasta to be made fresh,” says Daniel, whose mother runs an Italian restaurant in Manali.

“It wasn’t too much of a problem. We had some professional chefs and they rolled out and cooked fresh pasta for us everyday.”

Just like the freshness the League is hoping to infuse into Indian football.

(Inputs from Jonathan Selvaraj and Shahid Judge)