'Do well in the ISL, foreign clubs will notice you': Mikael Silvestre tells Indian footballers

New Delhi: Former Manchester United defender Mikael Silvestre says the ISL is a “perfect stage” for Indian players to catch the attention of football world and bring about a positive change in the minds of their parents as far as making careers out of the sport was concerned. The Frenchman, who had won the UEFA Champions League with United, played in the first edition of Indian Super League for Chennayin FC. [caption id=“attachment_1777793” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File Photo. HISL[/caption] The 37-year-old, who also had stints at Arsenal and Inter Milan, was speaking on the sidelines of Delhi Dynamos FC’s Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Grassroots Day celebration here today. “In the future you can expect players to perform well for three months and get a stint and sign a contract outside India. It will obviously benefit the players, but also the national team, and Indian football in general,” Silvestre said. He added that with the exposure and money that ISL brings, it may change the mentality of Indian “parents who are presently not too interested” in their kids trying to pursue football professionally. ISL has already given a boost to FC Goa player Romeo Fernandes, who is on loan to Clube Atlético Paranaense in Brazil, and became the first Indian to play in the mecca of football. Silvestre, who recently got his US Soccer ‘A’ coaching licence, interacted with over 200 kids in the age group of 6-12 years from various NGOs across Delhi NCR during the Grassroots Day programme. He showed his juggling skills and in turn the enthusiastic kids showed theirs. The aim of the festival was primarily to generate interest among kids for the sport and also to provide them the right platform to display their skills. PTI