A familiar face in a foreign land is always a pleasant surprise. This correspondent bumped into former Mumbai hockey player Juned Jada, now Coutinho (he has adopted his mum’s surname) at Sunday night’s Germany v Spain FIFA World Cup match at the Al Bayt Stadium here. The wily forward has been employed with Qatar Airways, the FIFA World Cup’s official airline, for the last decade-and-a-half, and currently is Duty Manager, Customer Services. 

Still active in sports

A blessed footballer too, Coutinho, 40, continues to play local hockey and football tournaments here. And in one such inter-departmental football competition, he was lucky to win FIFA World Cup tickets.