ISL: Despite the heat, Atletico de Kolkata's Spaniards promise great intensity

Kolkata: Jofre Mateu and Arnal Llibert are no strangers to the changes and challenges of football. Both the Spaniards have been part of numerous transfers and relegation scraps — playing for a combined 25 clubs in their careers. But even for such seasoned professionals, it took quite some time to digest the shocks India had to offer. “It gets hot in Spain too but it was getting slightly colder in the few days before we came to Kolkata. I remember when we first went out in the open the afternoon after we landed in Kolkata, and I went ‘wow’ – that is hot. That’s something I won’t forget,” midfielder Mateu told Firstpost. [caption id=“attachment_1750843” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Jofre Mateu and Arnal Llibert. Pulasta Dhar/Firstpost.[/caption] Mateu and Arnal are part of the six-man Spanish contingent at Atletico de Kolkata — and the latter, who has never played outside Spain, admitted that his illusions about India were now broken. “You always have this illusion about what India would be like – we always kept thinking about it. But now we’re here, it has really struck us. We’re very pleased with Kolkata and you can feel there’s something special about India — there’s just this different feeling of life in this country. And as professionals, weather and all these external things should matter the least,” the forward said. Both the players are dressed in Atletico de Kolkata t-shirts — teammate Denzil Franco lounges outside speaking to someone else and you can see the Mumbai City FC officials in the lobby of the hotel too. Arnal and Mateu both wave midway through the interview to fans who’ve recognised them — there is a certain presence of football in the hotel and around the Salt Lake area (a few kilometres from the hotel) at least. A hoarding of the team is seen between the two landmarks — the stadium which will witness them play and the place where the teams are based — and there are boards saying ‘home of fatafati football’ lining the outer walls of Salt Lake stadium. The Spanish influence on the team is not exaggerated. Six players (Arnal, Mateu, Josemi, Luis Garcia, Bisilio Agudo and Borja Fernandez), the fitness coach Miguel Martinez and the manager Antonio Lopez Habas are all from Spain and so is the foreign club tie-up (Atletico Madrid). Lopez Habas has not said much about the style he’s instilling in the team, but Arnal gives us an idea: “Intensity, that’s what you can expect from us. Spanish players and Spanish football — it’s about intensity. Of course, it’s about the tactics on the day and who plays but our physical conditioning has been designed to perform in a fast-paced tournament.” Atletico de Kolkata take on Mumbai City FC on 12th October at Salt Lake Stadium for the Indian Super League opener.