Training in a German club's academy key factor behind Aizawl FC's success

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Bengaluru, Mar 13: They were relegated from the I-League last season. This year, with only four matches left in the ongoing season, Aizawl FC are at the top of the league table with 30 points from 14 matches.

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With only four matches left, the entire state of Mizoram seems to have been euphoric as the club is on the verge of creating history.

The chairman of the club Robert Romaya Royte, speaking from Aizawl said: “It was not much surprising for us about the rise of the team this season in the I-League.

"The reason is that we have been taking preparation for the I-League for almost last three years and the preparation is mainly to build up a strong youth brigade who can mix up football skill with extraordinary fitness perfectly.

"In a bid to prepare the strong youth brigade we have made a tie-up with a German club academy where our selected under-16 boys are sent for extensive training for around four years.

"And every year, we evaluate the performance of our junior and senior team footballers. This evaluation process is very harsh.

"Our coaches in the club and team selectors never compromise with the quality. That is why we have been able to build up a strong youth brigade who has been performing consistently in the elite I-League."

Another important person in the club's governing body, H. Lianzama opined: “The Indian football fraternity is probably thinking that being unseeded in the league we will succumb to heavyweights like East Bengal and Mohun Bagan in the last phase of the League.

"But I am confident that our boys who have come to the senior team through a rigorous selection and training process will fulfill our dream of creating history."

When asked about Aizawl being compared to Leicester City FC, Lianzuama laughed and said: “If Aizawl FC has to be Leicester City then we should collapse in the next I-league as Leicester City has collapsed in the ongoing EPL. But our aim is to sustain in a similar fashion in the next year also."

OneIndia News