Ranchi, Aug 9 (IANS) Rodriguinho’s first start for SC Delhi could hardly have gone better, but the Brazilian forward was quick to shift the focus away from his remarkable five-goal haul and towards the belief that brought him to India in the first place.
“This is the result of the belief that everybody had in the team,” Rodriguinho said after SC Delhi’s emphatic 7-0 victory over Defenders FC in the Durand Cup. “I would like to thank all the coaching staff for their teachings and support.”
The Brazilian needed just 13 minutes to complete his hat-trick on his starting debut before adding two more goals, including a curling effort from the edge of the box. The result sent SC Delhi to the top of Group C with maximum points from two matches and put them within touching distance of the knockout stages.
Yet for Rodriguinho, the performance was less about individual achievement and more about the faith his new club showed in him.
“In Brazil, we are always keeping an eye on the Asian market,” he explained. “India has been growing more and more, with more and more players coming here. There are also a lot of Brazilian players with big names who have played in India. So, we had some knowledge about Indian football, and I believed in the Delhi project. I was happy that they believed in me.”
That belief has already begun to look justified.
Rodriguinho arrived in India without the profile of some of the more established foreign names to have played in the country. Within his first start, however, he had introduced himself to Indian football in spectacular fashion.
His adaptation off the pitch has also been helped by the reception he has received.
“I am getting along very well with the people here,” he said. “They are very open and talkative. They are very curious. They want to learn and they want to listen. I am having a great time with them.”
There have been adjustments, including to the food, but the forward appears increasingly comfortable in his new surroundings. That comfort has translated onto the pitch, where he has shown an ability to move between the lines, link play and find scoring positions.
Rodriguinho sees similarities between his own game and that of Brazilian international Matheus Cunha.
“I think my profile is very similar to Matheus Cunha,” he said. “He can play in different positions in the front. He can play as the only striker and he can also play between the lines. I get a lot of inspiration from him because he is a very versatile player.”
If Cunha is an influence on his playing style, Neymar remains the player who occupies a special place in his footballing imagination.
But Rodriguinho’s own description of his game is far more straightforward.
“I can describe myself with one word: I am someone who finishes actions,” he said. “I want to improve everything.”
That ability to finish was on full display in Ranchi. The Brazilian’s first goal came after he controlled a pass on his chest, spun away from his marker and calmly placed a left-footed finish into the bottom corner. The second followed barely a minute later, while the third completed his hat-trick before the match had settled into its rhythm.
Two more goals followed after the break. For all the attention that his five-goal performance has generated, Rodriguinho remains keen to project a personality that is considerably more understated than his finishing.
“I am a simple person. I like to always be smiling and to have good energy,” he said.
And then comes perhaps the most Brazilian detail of all.
“I love samba. I can play a little.”
The connection between samba and his football may be easy to romanticise, but Rodriguinho himself keeps things simple.
“I am a very simple person, very open and very happy,” he said. “I want to live with everybody in peace and happiness.”
For SC Delhi, the hope will be that the happiness continues on the pitch. The club’s seven-goal victory has put them at the top of Group C and strengthened their push for the knockout stages of the Durand Cup, Asia’s oldest football tournament.
For Rodriguinho, meanwhile, the five-goal debut has provided a spectacular opening chapter to his Indian adventure. But the forward insists the story is about more than one player or one extraordinary night. The belief came first, the goals have followed.
–IANS
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