When it comes to naming a Naga footballer of some repute, the only name which will ring in the minds of most Nagas will be Dr T Ao – the MBBS graduate who was Indian football power-house Mohun Bagan’s captian.

Besides Dr T Ao, I can hardly recall any Naga footballer making a mark. Well, there has been the occasional news about  Nagas playing for some clubs in metros but after a while even they wandered off doing something else. (Excuse me if I’ve missed any promising Naga footballer)

Many people will know about Shillong Lajong, the Shillong based football club which is currently in the I-League. Lajong is the only club from North East India playing in the league.

Sometime back, on board a Mumbai-Guwahati flight, I happened to travel along with the Shillong Lajong team- all dressed in their trademark red tees. I found out the passenger next to me was Mr Kenneth Khongwar, the team manager.

Having nothing much to do I struck a conversation with Mr Kenneth who was seated beside the team’s Physiotherapist. The team had played matches in Goa and were on their way to Shillong for a home game.

I could see many North Eastern players along with some African and Indian players. Out of curiosity I asked the manager if there were any Naga footballers in the team. To my dismay I came to know there were none.

Mr Kenneth said Shillong Lajong has spent a lot of money to form the professional club. The players are under contract and are paid handsomely and provided accommodation and other facilities in Shillong when the team is not traveling. He mentioned that the team represents North East and wants to select players from all NE states, but quality can’t be compromised.

He mentioned that some Naga players wanted to join the team but were not professional enough. I was wondering what that meant.

This discussion reminded me about the talented 21 yr old footballer Federico Macheda (Manchester United) not being selected for Italy’s under-21 team.

Here is what the Italian coach had to say about Macheda:

“Macheda was not ready or professional enough”

“He needs to grow a lot, both on the pitch and off it, if he wants to remain a part of this squad,”

“As a player he has many qualities, but they are yet to be expressed fully. If he wants to be a football player, then that is a fun job, but he needs to learn to be a real professional.

Hmmm.

Well, Mr Kenneth wants to have Naga players in the team provided they are good enough. I told him that I’ll let him know if I come across any.

Tags: football, shillong lajong