Football has witnessed a fairy tale moment this summer, with Leicester City winning the English Premier League for the first time. Taking inspiration of that moment, Gianluca Zambrotta is talking of another - Wales winning Euro 2016.
The former Italian World Cup winner who joined the Delhi Dynamos on a two-year contract says, "I hope Wales wins because it will be a great fairy tale ending for them."
Zambrotta will be on a two-year contract with the club that finished in the semi-finals of ISL last year. A porous defence has been Delhi's bane, having conceded 23 goals in 16 matches. So does Zambrotta come into play there?
In an exclusive interview to NDTV, the 39-year-old said, "I believe in offensive football, but it's also very important to have an organised defence system. So, that is one area I will be working on, getting more goals but also having a very good defence."
With a CV like his - a World Cup winner in 2006 and a feared full-back- Zambrotta may have had a job elsewhere but he chose India because, "Del Piero has always spoken very well of this city, of this team, and also of the future Indian football has in the next few years".
Zambrotta has coaching experience of more than a year, having served as a player-cum-assistant coach at Swiss club Chiasso before becoming a head coach in 2014 summer, till his sacking in April, 2015.
Despite being away from Italian football, he has kept a close watch on Italy in the ongoing Euro 2016. Although they had a hard fought exit followed by Captain Gianluigi Buffon's on-pitch melt-down, Zambrotta feels that he will play on till Russia 2018. "Gigi is a dear friend and I hope he does continue playing because he is very fit."
An early exit isn't an option for him, for the Delhi Dynamos coach feels that Lionel Messi should comeback to play for Argentina again, "I believe Messi should come back. He is really a big name and he should try and take Argentina to an important victory in Russia".
And like many in the world of football, the he too has his opinion on the Ronaldo vs Messi debate, "For me Messi is better than Ronaldo because I have played in Barcelona and I think he is one of the best player ever in football. "
The Delhi team boasts of few of the best talents in the business but that alone has not managed to take them to a championship win, perhaps what it needs is the famed Italian defender's touch of brilliance.