CHENNAI: The foreign player in the Indian Super League is a curious entity. On the field, his job is to ensure that local players do not drag down the quality of football below a certain standard. Off it, he has to act as a bridge between Indian football and the rest of the world, creating tiny links that can register in the minds of the country’s European football-crazy fans, thereby lending the ISL a semblance of relevance.
Names like Florent Malouda and Diego Forlan find this easy, having pulled on the colours of some of the biggest clubs in the world. Then there are others like Jofre Mateu Gonzalez, who has breathed in the same oxygen as some of football’s biggest legends.
Jofre, formerly of Atletico de Kolkata and now Zico’s go-to man at FC Goa, came through FC Barcelona’s famed La Masia academy, even managing to score on his La Liga debut. Fourteen years after he left Barcelona, the club still dominates the questions he receives from players or fans.
“I was 13 and going away from home. It was great to share the dressing room with my idols. As a school, as an academy, as a place where football thrives, La Masia is the biggest,” says Jofre.Jofre’s time at Barcelona, the pre-Messi, pre-Ronaldinho era, was not quite the most trophy-laden in the club’s history. But he got to share space with some of the biggest names. “When my first pre-season with the first team happened, (Louis) Van Gaal was the coach with (Jose) Mourinho as assistant,” Jofre remembers.
“Many players of the second team were eating together at a table. And there was only one player of the first team with us — Luis Enrique, the current Barcelona coach. He was sitting there so that reserve players feel part of the first team group.”
Then there was the time he rubbed shoulders with then Barca captain and now Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola. “I was new and in the team bus. Turns out I was sitting in Winston Bogarde’s seat. He came in and asked me to move. But Guardiola asked Bogarde to find another seat. Even then, he was looking out for the players.”
spanish affair
● Age: 36 Nationality: Spanish
● Position: Midfielder
Teams played for
Barcelona (1998-2002), Mallorca B (loan, 2000-2001), Levante (2002-2005), Espanyol (2005-2006), Murcia (2006-2008), Rayo Vallecano (2008-2010), Valladolid (2010-2012), Girona (2012-2014), Atlético de Kolkata (2014), FC Goa (2015-present).
Honours
Barcelona: La Liga (1997-98),
Espanyol: Copa del Rey
(2005–06), Atlético de Kolkata
(ISL 2014).