Spain has always had a rich footballing heritage with children introduced to the game from an early age. Atlético de Kolkata head coach Jose Molina’s childhood was no different. His initiation began at the age of three when he received a football from his father - perhaps the first gift every child receives in Spain. He spent hours playing with his friends in his neighbourhood. Playing football came naturally to him. As he grew, he began to catch the eye of local scouts, and then at the age of 12, he joined the local academy in his hometown of Valencia. “I started to play for the academy teams and then I progressed step by step. You start to learn and you are growing and finally I was able to turn professional,” Molina told indiansuperleague.com in an exclusive interview. The goalkeeper honed his skills with Valencia’s B team before making his professional debut for UD Alzira in 1990.Molina rose in stature soon and made his top-flight debut for Albacete Balompié in January 1995 in a 1-0 La Liga victory over Real Oviedo. He then moved to Atlético de Madrid and there began a 189-game partnership which gave him the La Liga winner’s medal and the Copa del Rey trophy. He went on to play for Deportivo La Coruña where he added another Copa del Rey to his cabinet along with two Spanish Super Cup titles. He finally hung his boots in 2007 after a season at Levante.But between all the trophies and success, something happened which totally changed his philosophy towards life. During the peak of his career, he had to fight another battle. A battle much tougher than any opponent striker - his battle against cancer. He was diagnosed with testicular cancer in October 2002 and was thus forced to undergo treatment at a time when he was the undisputed choice between the sticks for Deportivo. He fought on and eventually won the battle. That’s Molina for you!Into its third year, the Hero Indian Super League has attracted a lot of illustrious names from the world of football. Names like Alessandro del Piero, Roberto Carlos, Marco Materazzi, Gianluca Zambrotta, Lucio, Zico, Nicolas Anelka, Luis Garcia and many others have made their presence felt in the league as players and as coaches. Molina is another important name in that list, as stoic as they come.When asked how those chemotherapy sessions changed his perspective on life, Molina said: “The personality is similar. It is the same. You can’t change everything about a person but it changed the way I saw life. You start to think more in the present. Nor too much in the past nor too much into the future. You learn to live 100% in the present. Try to enjoy every day as it comes. Enjoy with your family, with the people who you love. And about the future? You should think about today, work hard today and do not think much about the future nor what has already happened in the past.”The Hero Indian Super League is a new challenge unlike any other for him. His long relationship with Atlético de Madrid made it easier for him to take up the role in Kolkata, and one look at him is enough to suggest that he has been enjoying the experience so far. Soft spoken and polite, his press conferences are filled with positive energy and enthusiasm. Molina also believes that the ISL can go a long way towards developing football in a big way in India. “With the ISL, all the Indian players have improved and they can improve even more. They are working everyday with players of high levels. International players who come here can teach them. The coaches of course are trying their best. I think it’s a good league and it is helping Indian football a lot,” the 46-year-old said.The hectic nature of the league leaves no time for leisure. With little time for recovery between matches, you always have to be focused with the task in hand and can’t just sit back and relax, but Molina did manage to squeeze in a visit to the famous Victoria Memorial. His love for the city is also evident through these words, “I do hope I can come back later on a personal visit but as I have said before I don’t think much about the future but again it’s a good city and I like the city. The people are quite friendly here and I enjoy being here. Surely, I hope I’ll come back.”So does the league and the fans of Atlético de Kolkata.
