Atletico de Kolkata players mesmerised by Cristiano Ronaldo in Spain

Bengaluru, Sep 15: They are busy with pre-season training in a place named Segovia that is around 90 kilometres from Madrid, Spain. Still, they did not want to leave the opportunity to have a rare experience. That was watching a legend, Cristiano Ronaldo at close quarters.

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They are the footballers of Atletico de Kolkata. The franchise club which has tie-up with Atletico Madrid has sent its team to train ahead of the forthcoming Indian Super League (ISL).

The footballers who had received the special pass to visit the Real Madrid's second match against Osasuna in the La Liga this season, were Shilton Paul, Kinshuk Debnath and Bikramjit Singh.

Shilton, the goalkeeper who had donned shirts of Kerala Blasters last season, said from Madrid over phone, "The price of that special pass was too expensive for us. It was nearly Rs 10,000 for one pass. Still, we three did not refuse. The reason was simple that we did not want to miss the opportunity to see Ronaldo from close distance, just beside the mixed zone which is entitled for media to talk to the players."

Bikramjit Singh also seemed not to have been able to come out of the daydreaming even after the match ended.

Bikramjit also, speaking from Madrid revealed, "Immediately after Bernabeu Stadium I felt it was not any football match, being staged there. It looked as if we had entered in a big carnival. The thousands of Real Madrid supporters were chanting and singing continuously. Another section of the fans were playing drums and the most important thing, Real's legendary coach Zinedin Zidane was also welcoming the fans' ecstatic behaviour much before the match by clapping and waving hands to those fans."

Shilton added saying, "When Ronaldo stepped in around 85 thousand fans at the Stadium stood up and welcomed the superstar. We were surprised also to have watched Ronaldo who tried his best to give as much as possible autographs and shake hands with the fans after the match ended. He looked very simple and never seemed to be tired of giving autographs even after having played a 90 minute-match."

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