VIDEO | Mumbai’s Romanian captain sings “Jana Gana Mana” proudly ahead of Maha-derby

The multicultural bonding at sporting camps was a phenomenon that IPL had first started. All of a sudden, we could see the likes of Andrew Symonds and Harbhajan Singh spending a good two months in a franchise. The travelling and playing together did remove much of the differences that were previously present in the sport.

Soon, other leagues followed suit with the nation seeing its local players rubbing shoulders with international stars and spending an entire season. However, unlike cricket, or badminton, or kabaddi for that matter, football is a more intensive team sport requiring better coordination on the pitch with players seen lifting each others’ spirits every now and then.

Hence, when Romanian international Lucian Goian was seen confidently singing the Indian national them, it was much more to do with the captain’s understanding of his players, their mindset and how good he has been at it. Since moving to Astra Giurgiu in the Romanian league from Dinamo Bukarest in 2010, Goian has mainly been on one-year contracts and not playing for the same club twice.

It was until he moved to Mumbai City FC in 2016 that he seemed to have found a sense of belonging. Though the four-month ISL is not enough for the football-loving 35-year-old, and he had to play briefly in Perth Glory in between, he has returned to the ISL club just in time. And him singing the national anthem indicates that he is staying for long.