It was a meeting between two former Liverpool strikers in the unlikely location of Mumbai. Indeed, apart from the fact that they once played for the same famous club in the same position, Ian Rush and Nicolas Anelka seemed to have little in common.
Rush met Anelka and his Mumbai City FC teammates a few hours before their Indian Super League game against Delhi Dynamos FC on Wednesday.
The mercurial French striker scored the match-winning goal in a 1-0 victory and was at the heart of most of Mumbai City's attacking moves. The presence of Rush -- Liverpool's all-time leading scorer with 346 goals in 660 appearances -- certainly seemed to motivate Anelka to do what he does best.
Anelka made only 20 appearances for Liverpool when he spent the 2001-02 season at Anfield on loan from Paris Saint-Germain. Most would consider this to be ample experience in the red corner of Merseyside to be inspired by the exploits of Rush, the Reds' iconic Welsh striker of the first-division-winning teams of the 1980s.
Mumbai City FC coach Peter Reid had invited his long-time friend Rush to spend time with the team at the training ground as a motivational strategy. Rush is spending a week with the ISL franchise of the western Indian metropolis as he shoots his documentary, Football in India.
"I had a chance to interact with the players while they were preparing for the game against Delhi Dynamos," Rush told the Hindustan Times.
"The Indian players seem to be very eager to learn. I hope they pick up a few tips from the greats of the game such as Alessandro del Piero and Nicolas Anelka. I hope it really helps them improve."
Rush shed some light on his connection to former England international, Reid, who was born in Liverpool. "Peter is an old friend. I have spent years playing against him when he was at Everton," said Rush. "He was here in Mumbai and I thought I will come and take a look at how the tournament is shaping out."
Rush travelled with the team to the practice venue in the team bus. He was also sporting the Mumbai training jersey.
"I'll be with the team for a week," said Rush. "Right now I am only interested in looking at how the tournament is panning out. I will take it from there."
In India, Rush's visit, the ISL and Anelka's second consecutive match-winner took a back seat in all the national newspapers and news channels. On Wednesday, India's legendary former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar -- who is co-owner of the Kerala Blasters FC ISL franchise -- unveiled his autobiography, Playing It My Way, at a glittering function In Mumbai.
However, the ISL has given a boost to Indian football in terms of stadium attendances and television ratings. Rush acknowledged that the fledgling tournament is the start of a process of the sport becoming more popular in the country.
"Cricket is a beautiful game and very popular in India, but we also want football to come up," said Rush. "Hopefully, the inaugural edition of ISL could be a start of that process. Surely I would like to be a part of this change in some capacity over time."
Rush, who is a Liverpool FC ambassador, added that he hoped the current Anfield talisman, Steven Gerrard, would end his career in Anfield as uncertainty lingers over his long-term future. "Gerrard has been an integral part of the club. I hope the club does all that is in their power to make him stay."