Drifting on the beautiful mountain roads of Jordan also lead Gurpreet Singh to end up in a ditch.
Indian football star, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was in Jordan a couple of months ago where he learnt drift racing. It is one of the fasting growing motorsports in the Middle East inspired by Japanese street racers in the 1970s. It evolved into a mainstream international sport in the early 2000s. In recent years it has gained popularity, particularly across Jordan. Ahmad Daham, Red Bull's drifting champion was Singh's teacher.
The 27-year-old told ET Panache, "It was an amazing experience to be in Jordan with Ahmad Daham, undoubtedly the best drifter in the Middle East. I hadn’t experienced drifting in real life. I love driving. I am a huge fan of race cars, and I love playing car games. But I hadn’t experienced anything like this before. Nothing we did came close to what Ahmad does on a daily basis."
He explained that in drift racing, instead of driving straight like in conventional racing, the car is steered sideways to intentionally lose traction on the wheels. With prolonged skidding and a rapid build-up of friction, the tyres of drift cars are burnt through within a few minutes. All the action happened at the Madaba Circuit in Amman, Jordan.
Ahmad Daham, Red Bull's drifting champion, was Gurpreet Singh's teacher. "I went through a thrilling experience of learning from Daham how to do donuts, the figure of eight and drift around a corner on the track on a 700 horsepower car. I hitched a ride with Daham for an experience of a lifetime when we both drifted through locations like Namala Road, Wadi Rum and was dropped off at the Dead Sea," he said.
Drifting on the beautiful mountain roads of Jordan also lead the goalkeeper to end up in a ditch. It was one of the most memorable moment from the drifting experience for him. "It was my first car crash ever while in the passenger seat. It was a scary and thrilling experience. I would definitely want to explore more with motorsports, with cars especially," Singh said.
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There was learning which the star will apply to his time at the football net. And there was also football skills that helped him in this task. "Drifting is very difficult because it needs you to be really good at measuring the speed and distance with good hand-eye coordination, whereas in goalkeeping it’s more about how much one can do physically. Goalkeepers put a lot of effort to improve hand-eye coordination. My training in hand-eye coordination helped me to do multiple things in a single moment while I was behind the wheel of the drift car," he ended.
Planning A Trip With The Boys? These Iconic Venues Will Turn It Into A Football Pilgrimage
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Sunday league football can be a messy affair – beer breaks, dad bods, badly-timed tackles, and risqué jokes. But for most amateurs who take to the turf in their downtime, kicking about on a weekend is their idea of bonding with friends with a shared passion for football. From winding tunnels and dingy dressing rooms to vertical stands that offer a view of the ocean, here are a few iconic stadia, a visit to which can transform your next boys’ trip into a footballing pilgrimage.
Sunday league football can be a messy affair – beer breaks, dad bods, badly-timed tackles, and risqué jokes. But for most amateurs who take to the turf in their downtime, kicking about on a weekend i..
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In cinematic lore, Casablanca is where old lovers are reunited, but on the football pitch, there is little love lost between the two clubs that call the city home. The derby between Wydad AS and Raja Casablanca is one of the fiercest in Africa. The city’s biggest stadium, however, was thrice baptized. Built in 1955, it was initially named after the boxer Marcel Cerdan. The next year, after Morocco gained independence from France, it was renamed the Stade d'Honneur. Renovations were made to expand capacity in preparation for the 1983 Mediterranean Games, and it was subsequently renamed after King Mohammed V Ben Yousuff. The stadium now hosts league fixtures and international games.
In cinematic lore, Casablanca is where old lovers are reunited, but on the football pitch, there is little love lost between the two clubs that call the city home. The derby between Wydad AS and Raja..
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Nacional, which calls the stadium home, was once financed by slain drug lord Pablo Escobar, and is the most successful club in the Colombia. The fans, like their former patron, are notorious for their boisterous antics in the stands – a total of 315 home fans have been arrested for violent conduct in the past decade. Escobar started investing in Nacional in the 1980s and 1990s, a period known as “Narco Football” in Colombia. Corruption was rife. Matches were rigged. However, football has been at the vanguard of political change in the country, and the Nacional faithful were go-betweens in organizing a truce between Medellin-based drug cartels. The Estadio Atanasio Girardot was remodeled for the U-20 FIFA World Cup in 2011, the first major international tournament to be hosted in the country, marking the end of an era of violence.
Nacional, which calls the stadium home, was once financed by slain drug lord Pablo Escobar, and is the most successful club in the Colombia. The fans, like their former patron, are notorious for thei..
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Designed by the renowned architect Enrico Del Debbio, the Stadio Olimpico was constructed as a part of the Foro Mussolini project during Italy’s post-war days. The fans are notorious for their violent antics, with clashes between ultras becoming a regular fixture after games. Last year, three Napoli fans were shot by a home fan, and one of the victims succumbed to his injuries. The brand of football played by Roma and Lazio, the two teams who share the facility, is equally combative. Built like a colosseum, the stadium used to host speeches by former fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini. The craft fairs organised outside the stadium are a big draw with tourists, as Audrey Hepburn discovered in 'Roman Holiday'.
Designed by the renowned architect Enrico Del Debbio, the Stadio Olimpico was constructed as a part of the Foro Mussolini project during Italy’s post-war days. The fans are notorious for their violen..
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Among other things, Red Star has the distinction of beating Liverpool before the latter went on to win the UEFA Champions League. Reds’ manager Jurgen Klopp said after the defeat that his club “failed to find their mojo” and “struggled to adapt to the atmosphere.” A part of the stadium’s imposing nature lies in the labyrinthine tunnels which the players have to pass through before emerging onto the field. The tunnel that leads to the ground is sprayed with graffiti and is a holdover from the Soviet era. Armed guards stand on duty, and it takes over a minute to reach the turf from the dressing rooms. The fans are also known to come armed, although with flares and other pyrotechnics.
Among other things, Red Star has the distinction of beating Liverpool before the latter went on to win the UEFA Champions League. Reds’ manager Jurgen Klopp said after the defeat that his club “faile..
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Nicknamed La Bombonera, which literally translates to ‘the little cozy place,’ the home of Boca Juniors is anything but snug. It features the smallest possible pitch size permitted by FIFA regulations, which gives fans the impression that they are literally on top of the action. The three steep stands add to this impression. Notable players to have graced its turf include Diego Maradona, Carlos Tevez, and Juan Roman Riquelme. The home fans, known to be a vociferous bunch, are known to cause the stadium to tremble when in full voice, a viewpoint seconded by River Plate legend Hernan Crespo, who added the effect may also be due to structural flaws in the stadium’s design.
Nicknamed La Bombonera, which literally translates to ‘the little cozy place,’ the home of Boca Juniors is anything but snug. It features the smallest possible pitch size permitted by FIFA regulation..
