Speaking exclusively to mid-day, King, 43, who spent time in a workshop for young coaches and enjoyed a free-flowing football session with several underprivileged children at the Neville D’Souza ground in Bandra, discussed in detail the current state of Indian football. “It’s important for us to see the standards, to see if we can help the coaches in India learn some new techniques and methods on developing young kids. India is a huge country. It should be high up in the footballing scale. We need to constantly look at ways where we can help develop the game here. The earlier the kids start, the better it is,” said King. The workshop saw several young tacticians from the Reliance Foundation Youth Sports participating and King acknowledged that a clear exchange of ideas must take place between domestic coaches and their European counterparts. “If you want to develop young kids, it’s all down to the quality of coaches. The objective of us coming here is to interact with them, so that they can take away a thing or two and educate their children. What some of the coaches in Europe have been doing for years, maybe the tacticians can pick them. It’s important for young Indian players to see the standards in Europe and simultaneously acknowledge that something is achievable with hard work and determination. 

“Football is not the No. 1 sport in India, but as long as you have the appetite for young people to play and enjoy the game, all teams from across the world will do their best to promote the game here,” concluded King, a one-club player, who made 323 appearances and won the 2008 League Cup as captain.