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2006 World Cup: the Lone Indian

Arunava ChaudhuriMay 17, 2006

Vikash Dhorasoo, the name not only sounds Indian, but the French international is someone with Indian roots. Arunava Chaudhuri takes a look at the lone Indian at the World Cup this summer.

https://p.dw.com/p/LsVH
Vikash Dhorasoo in France's qualifying match against Ireland in Dublin, Sept. 2005
Vikash Dhorasoo in France's qualifying match against Ireland in Dublin, Sept. 2005Image: AP

India is still miles away from qualifying for the football World Cup, but a “Player of Indian Origin” is set to make his World Cup debut this summer. The Paris Saint-Germain FC midfielder Vikash Dhorasoo has been chosen by France coach Raymond Domenech into his 23 member squad for this summer’s tournament. A great achievement for Dhorasoo.

Playing alongside Zidane

Dhorasoo will have the honour to be in the same side as French midfield legend Zinedine Zidane and great strikers like Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet, who are known around the world. Dhorasoo has made it as one of the six players into the French midfield alongside Zidane, Patrick Vieira, Claude Makelele, Alou Diarra and Florent Malouda; while Domenech has left out midfielders like Arsenal’s Robert Pires, Barcelona’s Ludovic Guily and Werder Bremen’s Johan Micoud. This shows the standing of Dhorasoo in French football.

Dhorasoo’s background

Vikash Dhorasoo was born on October 10, 1973 in Harfleur. His parents had shifted to France from the island of Mauritius, where his grandparents had gone from India.

Dhorasoo started his career in the youth teams of AC Le Havre, for whom he also made his professional debut in Ligue 1 in the 1993/94 season. He shifted in 1998 to Olympique Lyon and had an overall successful time there until 2004, though he spent the 2001/02 season at Girondins de Bordeaux.

He had his best season for Lyon in 2003/04, when he was named the Best Player of the French Ligue 1. This outstanding performance earned him a transfer to Italian giants AC Milan in the summer of 2004, but Dhorasoo didn’t really make it at Milan and returned the following season to France. This time around he joined Paris Saint-Germain FC for whom he had played a good season in 2005/06 – a season which led directly or indirectly to a World Cup berth.

Dhorasoo’s international career

Sadly India never approached Dhorasoo to play for them, so Dhorasoo started to play for the French at youth level. He represented France 28 times at the U21 and U23 level, and even went on to represent France at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.

He has been a regular in the French national team since summer 2004 when Raymond Domenech took over from Jacques Santini.

And now Dhorasoo is set for another milestone in his career by taking part in a World Cup.