The relationship between Atlético de Madrid and India has extraordinarily strengthened in the last months. The birth of Atlético de Kolkata and their victory in the first Indian Super League edition has created a boom in the Asian country and there are hundreds of thousands of fans who are now looking to our guys.

To reward all that affection, a few weeks ago, the Club launched a contest to find our best fan in that country. Thousands of fans were eager to send their reasoning defending their candidacy.

The winner is Dhananjay Yadav, who travelled to Madrid and got to know the club from the inside. He greeted our President, visited our Museum and could witness live the 4-0 against Real Madrid. 

Dhananjay looks back at how he became an Atlético follower: "I vaguely remember, it was 2002 and a player wearing the no.9 jersey was ripping through the defence, scoring unbelievable goals considering that he was only 18. Since then, I became the fan of Fernando Torres and Atleti. Such was the madness, that as I couldn't get Atlético’s no.9 jersey in India, I ordered it from the UK. I still have that no.9 jersey as one of my most prized possessions. It wasn't only Torres that made me a hard-core Atleti supporter, it was about the character of the Cub. While Barça had style-of-play, Madrid had stars, Atleti had willpower and hard work to fight against biggest teams in Europe. It is this character that helped them winning the season last year against all odds. In a way, I have grown up with the Club, it taught me that hard work and commitment, along-with constant endeavour, will enable to achieve greatness no matter how difficult the obstacles are, and today I am a successful marathoner, pushing myself everyday. It would be a dream to wear no.19 jersey of Fernando Torres, and watch him give his all for my Atleti in the biggest stage of all – Madrid’s Derby."

It was a pleasure to receive our best fan of India yesterday at the Calderon. This video is proof that dreams can come true. ;)