Army Green is one of the football sections that represents Indian Army. The team regularly participates in the Durand Cup and various regional tournaments.Their major achievement was in 2016 Durand Cup as they won the title beating NEROCA FC in the final.
This Army side is going to start their Durand campaign from today against local team North East United FC .
LALLAWKIMA PC will lead the team in Durand this year.
First time in 2014 he came in Army Green. He played Santosh trophy in 2018 at Bangalore.After that this Mizoram boy became Champion in Santosh trophy in 2019 held at Ludhiana ,Punjab.Also played the same tournament in 2020 in Goa but final round was not played due to Covid.Most importantly he was the Captain of Army team which was the champion of Durand cup in 2016.
Before today’s match LALLAWKIMA PC shared his thoughts with PRATYUSHA MUKHERJEE.
Excerpts:
Q.You belong to Mizoram ,a remote area of North East… joined the Indian Football …now a part of Indian Army…say something about your journey ?
I joined Indian Army in 2011, started playing football after joining the Army.I played for Artillery Nashik Centre team and joined Army Green in 2014.Since then I am playing regularly for this team.
Q: In recent days, we see that many aspiring footballers from Northeast are playing ISL for Kolkata Jiant East Bengal and Mohun Bagan.Don’t you think that the Sports Ministry should give more attention to developing infrastructure in NE for over all development of football in the country?
Yes I think Sports Ministry should give more attention to developing infrastructure in NE for overall progress because NE has more potential and a number of good players may come up from there.
Q : Who inspired you to play football? Tell me something about your childhood memories.
Brazilian striker Ronaldo inspired me to play football.During childhood I used to watch matches of the Brazilian team in World Cup.
Q: Army Green played well last year Durand.I noticed so much enthusiasm and zeal amongst your teammates. As a Captain how do you assess their performance ?
Yes, my teammates have lots of passion and dedication.I hope they will perform well and we will give our best with what we have, I hope this year we can do better.
Q : Now tell me about your team’s prospect in the days ahead?
We have prepared a lot for this tournament for a long time and are very much excited to show what we have got.We believe God will help us.
Q : Do you get adequate help from the Service Sports Control Board and what about their infrastructure?
We get sufficient sports equipments,diets and food supplements. I hope these will help us more in upcoming tournaments. ASCB is always found to be helpful.
Q: As far as I know, you didn’t join any Indian National Team camp so far. If you get a chance in near future will you go?
Ofcourse I will go if I get a chance to join National team camp.
Q: A prestigious tournament like Durand encourages young players to a great extent.Do you agree?
Yes, I agree Durand cup encourages young players because its a great platform for them to show their quality.
Q : Manipur and some other areas of North East region are insurgency affected ..Chandel , Ukhrul ,Mon district and some other sensitive places are always in the news .Do you think this affects the develpoment of sports in the region?
I am from Mizoram but I haven’t listened any news like insurgency there.Yes, sometime we get news that Manipur is affected by terrorism.Ofcourse this affects the development of sports in the region.
Q : Are all team members of Army Green Squad serving personnel?
Yes all team members are serving personnel.
Q: This year Northeast states are also organizing the Durand Cup..how do you feel?
After long time such prestigious tournament is organised in NE.I feel very happy.We can see the crowd in the stadium.They are very much interested in watching this big event.
INTERVIEWED BY PRATYUSHA MUKHERJEE.
( In her illustrated career she has covered many major events and achieved International and National media award for Journalism. )
