Former Chennaiyin FC skipper Henrique Sereno believes India international Anirudh Thapa has the ability to play in Europe.
The Spanish defender who won back to back ISL title at ATK (2016) and Chennaiyin (2017-18) was all praises for his former teammates while speaking in a Live Instagram chat with Chennaiyin fan group Super Machans.
The Portuguese said, “We had so many players. Even the players who didn’t play a lot like Keenan (Almeida), (Fulganco) Cardozo, they had amazing skills but they didn’t get many chances but they were good in the training. That was the key to success. We had many good young players as well like Anirudh Thapa. He can play in Europe. He is a very good number 10 and has very nice skills. We also had Jeje (Lalpekhlua) who is a great striker.”
ISL
When asked about the strongest Indian player in the title-winning Chennaiyin FC squad, Sereno suggested, “The strongest Indian player in the club was my captain Dhanpal Ganesh. He is very strong. Usually, Indian players are not too big. Dhanpal used to win every single ball in the midfield. He used to communicate well with the defenders.”
The Portuguese defender also paid homage to the fans at Chennaiyin FC who he felt were as passionate as any fan group in the country.
“They (Chennaiyin) have a big stadium and it was nice playing in front of the passionate fans. The fans were always behind the team. Even the training sessions used to full. It was very special.
Sereno revealed that the best player he had played with at Chennaiyin FC was Brazilian midfielder Raphael Augusto who is currently contracted to rivals Bengaluru FC.
“Raphael Augusto for me was the best Chennaiyin player. He was very skilful. He could have played for any team in Europe but he chose to play in India. For me, he was the best I had played at Chennaiyin FC.”