Vishnu Prasad By

CHENNAI: It’s a routine that is becoming the hallmark of the Indian Super League. The defender, head in his hands, tries a last minute negotiation with the referee that he knows will eventually be fruitless. The panic, written on the face of the keeper as he arranges his wall, betrays the reality that the man on the other side can spot its chinks better than he can. The attackers inside the box go through their motions despite knowing that they are little more than extras in this scene. Elano Ralph Blumer then steps up and finds the net.

That half of Chennaiyin FC’s goals have resulted from Elano’s free-kicks shows how precious the Brazilian’s set-piece skills have been. Three went in directly, two found their way in with a bit of help from others.

It’s totally novel experience for Indian football fans to see free-kicks find the corner of the net with the precision of homing missiles. But Elano has been doing this for decades. The midfielder traces back his first free-kick to the heady days of his childhood when Zico and Eder were rifling in dead balls in national colours. “I started taking free-kicks when I was 12. I don’t remember if I was better than others. Zico was a big inspiration. And I used to watch a lot of videos of Eder as well,” he says.

The former Manchester City star is in a long line of dead-ball masters to don the Selecao yellow and Elano believes there’s something in the Brazilian sea-breeze that produces good free-kick takers. “Brazilian footballers have in-born talent. Players like Didi, Rivelinho, Zico, Roberto Carlos and Juninho had natural talent. But they were humble and willing to put in long hours in training. That’s why they became successful free-kick takers.”

Zico was such a big inspiration that Elano was adopting his favourite training routine of hanging a shirt at each corner of the training ground and taking them down from 20 yards out.

“I was trying that out a lot in training. For me there is no specific time period as to how long to practise free-kicks in each session. But I do it a lot. Every session, I try different positions and styles. I have been practising free-kicks for more than 20 years. Thankfully, the hard work is paying off now.”

So what goes on in his mind as he waits for the keeper to erect his wall? “I try to concentrate. I believe there is an 80 per cent chance of scoring from a free-kick if you can concentrate hard. Then I analyse the situation and the position. Whether I have to hit the ball hard or put more curl on it, it depends on the position.”

Over the years, Elano has scored some belters and it’s tough sieving through them to pick a winner. But the 33-year-old finally arrives upon his favourite free-kick. “The one I scored for Manchester City against Newcastle in 2007 is my favourite. It was my first goal for City and a special strike.”

Elano was part of the Brazilian World Cup team in 2010. He had scored two goals before injuring his leg against North Korea.