Sports
Pune City sign Romanian Mutu as marquee footballer
Pune: Indian Super League (ISL) franchise FC Pune City on Thursday signed former Fiorentina and Chelsea winger Adrian Mutu as its marquee player for this year’s edition of the football league.
The 36-year-old Romanian, who was a part of the Juventus side that won the Serie A title twice in 2004-05 and 2005-06, was also the Coppa Italia top scorer in 2009-10. He last played for Romanian club Petrolul Ploiesti.
“The commitment of the (FC Pune City) management for having me as a part of the club was one of the primary reasons for me to join. This certainly will be one of the biggest challenges of my career so far and I look forward to it,” Mutu, who scored 35 goals in 77 matches for Romania before retiring in 2013, said in a release.
The talismanic winger began his career with Romanian club Arges Pitesti and has also played for big clubs like Inter Milan and Juventus. His prolific form with Parma brought him a 22.5 million euros transfer to Chelsea in 2003.
Pune City also confirmed to have signed Ivory Coast legend Didier Zokora. The 34-year-old, who has 123 games under his belt for Ivory Coast, is the most capped player in the country’s history.
“I am excited to get this chance to play for FC Pune City in ISL. I have played in many countries before and every country has presented a new challenge,” Zakora, a defensive midfielder, said.
“I am sure this journey to India will be exciting and memorable one for me. I hope I can help my team become champions.”
Head coach David Platt said: “Adrian has experience at the highest level and a professional motivation to succeed. I’ve admired him from afar for some years and am very excited at the prospect of us working together for the benefit of FC Pune City.”
Co-owner and Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan was delighted to have the two stalwarts joining his side. “In Mutu and Zokora, we have players with world class experience. I am sure all the players will learn a lot from their presence in the squad, especially about how to manage such long careers in such an intense sport,” said Hrithik.
Pune in the last few weeks have also signed Costa Rican striker Yendrick Ruiz, left back Nicky Shorey and goalkeeper Steve Simonsen from England to strengthen their squad.
ISL begins in October.
The left-handed batsman from Haryana is garnering praise from all quarters for the way he’s finishing games regularly in the most exciting IPL season.
Gavaskar reckons Tewatia’s whirlwind knock in Sharjah (in IPL 2020) where he smashed West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, gave him the confidence that he belongs to the big stage.
Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “That assault on Sheldon Cottrell in Sharjah gave him the belief to do the impossible and the confidence that he belongs here. We saw the impossible (he did with the bat) the other day as well. There’s no twitching or touching the pads (which shows a batter’s nervousness) when he bats in the death overs. He just waits for the ball to be delivered and plays his shots. He’s got all the shots in the book, but most importantly his temperament to stay cool in a crisis is brilliant.”
Gavaskar has also nicknamed the 28-year-old cricketer the ‘ice-man’ and lauded Tewatia’s ability to remain unruffled during the tense moments.
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