KOCHI: While the Argentinians led by Lionel Messi hogged the limelight in Kolkata on Friday, a Brazilian was virtually ‘tackled’ in Mumbai even before he had kicked a football in the country.Alexander Barbosa da Silva was among the 97 passengers onboard the Turkish Airways flight that skidded off the taxiway at Chhatrapati Shivaji International airport in the wee hours of the day.The 30-year-old striker, signed by I-League side Chirag United Kerala, would not have thought that his first taste of India would be so frightening when he started off from Rio de Janeiro more than 30 hours ago.After the mishap, he arrived here with just documents proving that he was indeed the prized player that Kerala’s only I-League club was waiting for."It was scary,” Barbosa, nicknamed Alex Carioca, told Express.“The plane was shaking all over. People were terrified and many were crying. As soon as the rescue team arrived and opened the emergency doors, many jumped out. Somehow, I managed to stay calm. For a moment, I thought it was all over. When I looked out of the window, there was grass and the tarmac could not be seen. Thankfully, I have reached here safely. My bag is still stuck at the airport,” the player said.Set to be the first-ever Brazilian to play for a Kerala team, he will don the number 10 jersey this season.A striker throughout his career, he started-off playing with legendary Romario as his strike partner at Vasco Da Gama as a 19-year-old. So far, Alex - who has a striking resemblance with Kaka - has played for six different clubs at home, apart from stints in Morocco, Thailand and Mozambique. He arrives at Chirag from Brazilian club Vitoria FC.“It is good to know that football is so popular in Kerala. I hope I can do my bit to improve its image here,” he said.Barbosa had a positive perspective to the scary start to his life in India. “It’s good that the start was bad. Hopefully, things will be better on the playing field. I hope I can play well and help my club achieve good results,” he said.
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