Italian World Cup winner and Chennaiyin FC player-manager Marco Materazzi unveiled the club logo, ‘Duradrishti’, here on Monday.
Also known as Drishti, ‘a representation of preserving the positivity’, it was unveiled in the presence of club co-owner Vita Dani.
In a media interaction that followed, the 41-year-old spoke on his dual role as a player-manager, on playing against compatriot Alessandro Del Piero, the Indian Super League's (ISL) role and footballing scene in India.
Excerpts:
On the dual role: I am first a manager. Our main players will be Elano, [Mikhail] Silvestre and other Indian players. We can only play five or six foreigners.
So maybe I will be on the bench. And, we can’t play without Indian players. We are here for them.
Will ISL improve the quality of Indian football? I think so. Cricket is a religion here. But we want football to grow quickly. We are here to give our experience and teach Indian players.
On the footballing potential in India: At the moment, no. Cricket is the most important sport here. But football is in the world. We will do our best this year and in the coming years. May be in ten years it will be good.
On Alessandro Del Piero: He is the best player in the league [ISL]. He is very happy to come here. I will hug him when he comes to Chennai. But after that he is an opponent. I want to win against him.
On having less than 20 days before the start: Nothing is impossible. We can come out successful. Others teams started before us. So we need to work, work and work.
On local talent [from Tamil Nadu] being incorporated into the team: We are looking at it. But we cannot disclose it now.
