India need players with mental toughness: Rush

MUMBAI: To get a faint idea of what Ian Rush means to anyone who has anything to do with Liverpool, the clock needs rolling back to a littleheard story in 1987. Having hammered home 139 goals for the Reds since his move from Chester City in 1980, Rushy – as he was known by the Koppites – had packed his bags for a switch to Juventus in Italy.
Clearly not willing to let go of their talisman, the fans offered to pay an extra 25pence each per match so that the club could afford him.He left anyway, came back a season later, club-hopped a little more before hanging up his boots.
Now 50, Rush could have been doling out advice to any club around the world. But it only made sense to complete the circle at Liverpool. Appointed as the club's Soccer Schools Ambassador, the Liverpool legend was in the city as part of Standard Chartered's 'Go Forward' program that aims at nurturing talent among Municipal school children .
Speaking about Liverpool's run in the Premier League under his former teammate Kenny Dalglish, Rush admitted that though the assembled squad has the right players, the Reds' home form has been a worrying factor. "We've drawn four games at Anfield and if you want to win the League, you have to win home games. We did it back then," he said.
Ask him about Dalglish and Rush thinks his appointment was one of the best things to happen at the Club. "The fans wanted him from Day One. It was great because he brought back the club's philosophy . Kenny is one of the best if not the greatest players of all time and when someone like him says that no one is bigger than the club, everyone respects it. Kenny is trying to bring that old heart back to Anfield."
Though he admitted his scant knowledge of Indian football, Rush stressed the need for an Indian to make it big on the global scene if children are to pick up the game. "India doesn't have someone to look up to in football. Look at Korea. They have Park Ji Sung to look up to. India needs their own Park for the sport to reach another level in the country," opined Rush.
Though 346 is a lot of goals to choose a best from but you still hope Rush has one. "Every goal I scored meant the same to me. So, no, I don't have a favourite. But I do have a favourite game. It's the FA Cup final in 1986 against Everton where I scored twice in a 3-1 win," he recalls.
"As a kid I always dreamed of scoring in a FA Cup final and I finally did it." Ask him if those dreams had him wearing an Everton shirt (as a lad, Rush was a huge fan of Liverpool's bitter rivals, Everton) and he sheepishly pleads guilty only to come back with a retort. "When I was at Chester, the Everton manager came to see and said I wasn't good enough. Three months later I joined Liverpool . So, no regrets on that one!"