Kolkata, July 20 (IANS) Legendary Brazilian soccer star Romario, in the city for a reality show by a Bengali entertainment channel, received a standing ovation from the sports loving Kolkata crowd here Tuesday.
Romario congratulated the upcoming footballers while felicitating the winners of Kolkata police Coca-Cola Friendship Cup 2010 in which 6,000 players from 462 localities took part.
‘It is a great pleasure to be here. I congratulate all the football players who are going to Bayern Munich for training. I am very honoured to be here today,’ said Romario.
Six best players will be sent to Bayern Munich Football club in Germany for further training.
Romario, wearing blue jeans and a striped white shirt and sporting blue sneakers, spoke in Portuguese.
‘My English is not so good,’ said Romario, who played a key role in Brazil’s victory in the 1994 World Cup by scoring five goals.
As he entered the ground and waved to the crowd, he received a standing ovation from the visitors and spectators present on the ground.
‘It was really an honour to receive trophy and congratulatory remarks from Romario. It was football that linked both of us so language was not at all a barrier. I also told him that I am his diehard fan,’ said Nabin Hela, member of the winning team.
Romario also signed t-shirts of three street kids.
