Del Piero dazzles but fails to inspire Dynamos who dominate possession yet fail to score in opener at home
The Indian Super League (ISL) mania swept through the Capital on Tuesday, with 25,000 football-crazy fans riding the Mexican wave like never before. And if not for the security hassles outside, the Nehru Stadium would have been packed. It's s shame that several ticket-holders were refused entry.
In the presence of FIFA officials, politicians, corporate giants, Bollywood stars and the lovely Sania Mirza, it was Italian superstar Alessandro del Piero who drew the maximum applause even though the spent the first 37 minutes of the match in the dugout.
For the record, Delhi Dynamos and FC Pune City played out a pacy 0-0 draw.
The moment the home side introduced Del Piero, the rivalry between him and Pune David Trezeguet came to the fore.
For a change, a few Indian players raised their game to gel well with the international stars. If Francisco Fernandez made his presence felt in the midfield, then Shouvik Ghosh and Naoba Singh were standout defenders for Delhi. In fact, Fernandez was adjudged the emerging player of the match for his many creative moves.
The hosts dominated the game but failed to find the back of the net. Their best chance came in the 68th minute when Del Piero steamed in with the ball and took a left-footed screamer from outside the box. The ball curled away to go just wide of the left post.
For the visitors, the biggest problem was its midfield. Given that four of the five players were doing midfield duty, they didn't create too many chances. Ashutosh Mehta, Manish Maithani, Israil Gurung and Lenny Rodrigues did their best, but were a yard or two slower than their attacking international stars.
With chants of 'Del Piero, Del Piero' reverberating through the stadium which could hold 42,000 people, it was absolute madness whenever the Italian got the ball.
Earlier, the home team started in swift fashion with Ghosh putting in a couple of long balls. It was in the eighth minute that Fernandes dribbled the ball past two opponents to push it for Mads Junker on the right flank. But the off-balanced striker failed to capitalise.
As time was running out, Brazilian midfielder Gustavo Santos came close to breaking the deadlock as he took a brilliant left-footed shot from the box to find the left post. The shot went along the ground and skidded off the pitch. That was the only time Italian goalkeeper Emanuele Belardi failed to reach up to the ball.
Delhi coach Harm van Veldhoven said he was satisfied with his team's performance. "We played fast as per our plan. It was bit disappointing to have not scored in the first game but we've such good players in the side who can change gears in the next games," said Van Veldhoven.
On keeping star striker Del Piero on the bench till the 37th minute, he said, "Our prime motto was to keep him (Del Piero) injury-free during the entire tournament. It was important to give him a bit time to adjust as the tournament is quite long."
Pune, too, had their chances but lacked composure in finishing.
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