Leander Paes to play for 'All Stars' team against Brazil Masters

The ‘All Stars’ team, which will take on ‘Brazil Masters’ in an exhibition match in Kolkata on Saturday on December 8, will have Indian tennis legend Leander Paes in their side.

IFA (Indian Football Association), the state football association of West Bengal on Monday evening assembled a team filled with past footballers of Kolkata with some current names like Jose Barreto, Dipendu Biswas and Alvitio D’Cunha also included.

But 1996 Atlanta Olympics bronze medallist Paes, who is also a big football fan, will be the star attraction of the ‘All Stars’ team.

Paes had revealed last year at the FPAI (Football Players Association of India) awards night that as a kid he had got a scholarship to play in the youth team of Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven but he declined it and started concentrating solely on tennis.

There were also plans from the AIFF (All India Football Federation) to make Paes the official Indian football ambassador but that eventually didn’t materialise.

It will be interesting to see how the ‘All Stars’ team, which will also feature former Colombia goalkeeper Rene Higuita, fares against a ‘Brazil Masters’ side filled with former World Cup winners like Dunga, Bebeto, Roberto Carlos, Edmilson etc.

Back in November 2010, a team of Bayern Munich legends had thumped a team of East Bengal former greats 10-3 in Kolkata.