KOCHI: Indian presence in World Cup teams is rare. It is often fans and volunteers who make up for it in football’s biggest stage. However, there is a Malayali presence in Qatar this time and Vinay Menon, who hails from Cherai in Ernakulam and settled in London, is working with the Belgium squad as the wellness coach. He will work closely with the likes of Eden Hazard, Kevin de Bruyne and Thibaut Courtois and look after their physical and mental well-being in Qatar.
“I feel proud to have gotten this opportunity to be with the Belgium national team in the World Cup. It makes me happy that I can represent India and make my country proud in my own way,” he said.
Menon is no stranger in the football world. He has been the wellness coach of Premier League side Chelsea since 2008. After Chelsea’s Champions League triumph in 2021, he shared a photo of him with the then Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta and captioned it ‘legend’. But Cesar gave him an ultimate compliment in his reply, “No, you are the legend,” highlighting the role Menon played in Chelsea’s achievement.
Former coach of Chelsea Thomas Tuchel had also credited the role played by the support staff that included Vinay Menon in Blues’ win in 2021. “You never expect to win the tournament. We played the role of the underdog. After the pandemic, players were down physically and mentally. But during the Champions League, ‘The Blues’ were a mentally tough unit. When I joined Chelsea, the club was ninth in the Premier League. So even qualifying for the Champions League was an achievement, let alone winning it,” he had told TOI during his recent visit to Kerala.
Despite hailing from a football-crazy land, Menon was never a huge fan of the game though he had an MPhil in sports psychology. He was working as a mind strategist in Dubai and West London before joining Chelsea. As part of his job, he once met a Russian family and taught them breathing techniques. Later, he came to know that one of the Russians whom he trained was none other than Roman Abramovich, the former owner of Chelsea. That meeting with Abramovic changed his destiny.
Though he worked as a personal health consultant of Abramovic for the first couple of years, he was given a job with the club soon. Over the past 14 years, the big names who have sought his support include the likes of John Terry, Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard as well as managers like Jose Mourinho, Antonio Conte and Tuchel.
Still a part of Chelsea, he hopes to work in a similar capacity with the Indian team one day. “If Belgium, with a population of 11 million, can make it to the World Cup, there’s no reason why India with a population of 1.3 billion, can’t. I believe that India can play the World Cup by 2030 and if and when that happens, I would very much like to lend my expertise to the national team,” he said, outlining his dream.
