Sergio Contreras Pardo, better known as Koke, has become a household name all over the North-East, if not in India, after knocking in the winning goal for NorthEast United FC against Kerala Blasters in the Hero Indian Super League fixture played here on Monday night. The 31-year-old Spanish forward, who has turned out for Málaga, Olympique de Marseille, Greek side Aris and Rayo Vallecano, spoke to indiansuperleague.com about his Indian experience…How does it feel to score the match winner in your very first game for your new club?It was really nice for all of us and I was really happy and excited. To win and to score is something really amazing!What do you have to say about the crowd support for the team? I was really surprised and amazed and so were the other players at how the fans supported the whole team. We are all waiting to play in our next fixture (against Atlético de Kolkata) on Thursday and have that feeling again.How does it feel to play in the ISL after playing in the European leagues?To be honest, I really didn’t think of coming to India before. They offered me a contract but I never anticipated this kind of atmosphere and this type of league.What is your first memory associated with football? I started playing since I was really small and I have been a professional for the past 12 years. I was 18 years old when I found a place in the starting XI playing in an exhibition match in Spain. So I started really early.How has your family supported you through this?My family loves football and they love what I do in my career, they always supported me and they always travel with me and I travel a lot! I don’t remember how many countries I have played in. They are really proud of me."It is important for the players to make the fans happy."Sergio Contreras PardoWhat is the reaction back home to the ISL?Everyone is really surprised about what happened at our game and the day before in Kolkata. It was like a World Cup with the inauguration ceremony and none of us expected this kind of atmosphere in the stadium and when we played. We are all really excited.What do you make of your new teammates and how well do you guys gel together?As I said before, this group is unbelievable. Also, we are a young team and we have some Indian players who are mostly 18 or 19 years old, so we act like a big brother to them. I think we are like a family, I think we are lucky to be in this group because not many leagues have this quality of humanity.Were you nervous before your game?I was talking to Joan (Capdevila) before the game about the nervousness we feel before any game, in Spain or anywhere. We feel nervous in India when we see the elation of the people, the hard work they put in with happiness. So we must give some elation back to the people. So we did something nice for the people by winning and everyone was happy, I saw a lot of smiling faces in the stadium and it is important for the players to make the fans happy.How important was it for you as a striker to get that first goal?It was very important to score because during the game I wasn’t feeling too well and I know I can play much better after what I did. After scoring, my confidence was really lifted, which is important, and it is even more important that the team wins. It is also important for me to continue this confidence into the next game.How is your partnership with James Keene developing?He had a great match, he ran more than anyone on the pitch, he worked hard for the team, he missed an opportunity to score but he really didn’t have many opportunities and chances to score, but if he plays like this he will definitely score. But the job he did that day was more important than scoring.Your next game is against Kolkata, who have also won their first game. So how are you all preparing for it?We are all excited to play this game because everyone says Kolkata is the team to beat. We will be playing in our stadium with our fans, and as you saw, we have wonderful fans. So it is important to give them victory to make them happy. It is most important for us to reach the semi-finals of this tournament.Post by ISL- Indian Super League.
