Mumbai: Former Newcastle United striker Michael Chopra was picked by the Kerala Blasters, co-owned by cricketing great Sachin Tendulkar, in an international draft for the upcoming Indian Super League on Thursday.
A total of 49 foreign players were drafted during the session for the eight-franchise league, which is slated to run from October to December. Seven players have been directly recruited by the teams.
Chopra, who has also played for a host of other Premier League clubs, was the only English player in the draft, which was held at a Mumbai hotel overlooking the Arabian Sea. Former Manchester United midfielder Bojan Djordjic has joined other marquee names such as former Juventus striker David Trezeguet and former Arsenal winger Freddie Ljungberg in the first season of the football league.
Djordjic, now 32, won the young player of the year award at Manchester United in 2000, but only made two appearances for the Premier League club. He went on to enjoy a successful career, winning league titles with Red Star Belgrade in Serbia, Videoton in Hungary, and AIK in Sweden.
The top four sides in the Indian Super League will qualify for the semi-finals, which will be played over two legs, with the winners advancing to a one-off final. Strict rules apply to player rosters, with each team required to have one marquee player, seven foreigners and 14 Indians, four of whom must be from the city in which the franchise is based.
Chennai-based Sun Group had bagged the Bangalore team but opted out at the last minute. Replacing them will be a team from Southern Indian city of Chennai to be run by Play on Skills, which has a technical collaboration with Inter Milan in India, organisers said.
The Chennai franchise bagged Djordjic and former Paris Saint Germain and Hull City defender Bernard Mendy, one of the highest-paid foreigners in the $80,000 bracket at Thursday's draft. La Liga veteran Jofre Mateu was picked by the Kolkata franchise, owned by a consortium including Spanish giants Atletico Madrid and former India captain Sourav Ganguly.
Below is the team-wise list of players that were chosen in the draft:
Atletico de Kolkata:
Apoula Edel - Armenia - Goalkeeper
Sylvain Monsoreau - France - Defender
Jose Miguel - Spain - Defender
Borja Fernandez - Spain - Midfielder
Jofre Gonzalez - Spain - Midfielder
Jakub Podany - Czech Republic - Midfielder
Arnal Llibert - Spain - Forward
Team Chennai:
Gennaro Bracigliano - France - Goalkeeper
Bernard Mendy - France - Defender
Jairo Carvajal - Colombia - Defender
Cristian Gonzalez - Spain - Midfielder
Bojan Djorjic - Sweden - Midfielder
Bruno Pelissari - Brazil - Midfielder
Eduardo Silva - Spain - Striker
Delhi Dynamos FC:
Marek Cech - Czech Republic - Goalkeeper
Henrique Dinis Oliveira Dias - Portugal - Defender
Bruno Herrero - Spain - Midfielder
Gustavo Marmentini dos Santos - Brazil - Midfielder
Pavel Elias - Czech Republic - Midfielder
Mads Junker - Denmark - Forward
Morten Skoubo - Denmark - Forward
Team Goa:
Jan Seda - Czech Republic - Goalkeeper
Gregory Arnolin - France - Defender
Youness Bengelloun - France - Defender
Bruno Filipe Tavares Pinheiro - Portugal - Midfielder
Miguel Bruno Pereira Herlein - Portugal - Forward
Edgar Carvalho Figueira Marcelino - Portugal - Forward
Miroslav Slepicka - Czech Republic - Forward
Kerala Blasters FC:
Cedric Hengbart - France - Defender
Raphael Romey - France - Defender
Erwin Spitzner - Brazil - Defender
Victor Herrero Forcada - Spain - Midfielder
Michael Chopra - England - Forward
Iain Hume - Canada - Forward
Pedro Adriano Veloso Gusmao - Brazil - Forward
Mumbai City FC:
Andre Matos Dias Pereira - Portugal - Goalkeeper
Pavel Cmovs - Czech Republic - Defender
Johann Letzelter - France - Defender
Ilias Pollalis - Greece - Defender
Jan Stohanzl - Czech Republic - Midfielder
Francisco Javier Fernandez Luque - Spain - Midfielder
Diego Fernando Nadaya - Argentina - Forward
North East United FC:
Massamba Lo Sambou - Senegal - Defender
Tomas Josl - Czech Republic - Defender
Isaac Chansa - Zambia - Midfielder
Do Dong-Hyun - South Korea - Midfielder
Guilherme Felipe de Castro - Brazil - Midfielder
Cornell Glen - Trinidad and Tobago - Forward
Luis Alfredo Yanes Padilla - Colombia - Forward
FC Pune City:
Bruno Cirillo - Italy - Defender
Emanuele Belardi - Italy - Goalkeeper
Ivan Bolado Palacios - Spain - Forward
Saidou Mady Panandetiguiri - Burkina Faso - Midfielder
Omar Andres Rodriguez Martinez - Colombia - Midfielder
Andres Felipe Gonzalez Ramirez - Colombia - Defender
Park Kwang-IL - South Korea - Midfielder
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