India coach Bob Houghton has urged budding footballers in the country to embrace national team captain Baichung Bhutia as a role model if they want to become successful players.

Describing Bhutia as the “embodiment of a good team player”, Houghton told a group of youngsters here to emulate his work ethic and team spirit if they wanted to be on top in their game. “He is a role model for each one of you, not just because he is a very good individual player, but also a fantastic team man who will do whatever the coach asks him to do. He is the captain of the team and plays centre-forward. But in the next match, if I ask him to play left-back, he will not hesitate and work hard and do a good job,” Houghton said at the Manchester United Premier Cup (India leg) for the under-15.