Aizawl FC ready for I-League challenge sans coach

The 2020-21 I-league is all set to begin on Saturday in Kolkata and Aizawl FC are looking forward to facing off against Punjab FC in the second match of the day.
The club from the north east is going into the tournament with a squad consisting of three foreigners and the rest of them are all from the state of Mizoram. Also, their head coach Stanley Rozario is not with the team since he hasn’t recovered completely after being infected with Covid-19 in October last year and the team has been training under assistant coach Lalsangzuala Hmar.
The team’s assistant manager Gosen Rammawia, currently playing the role of assistant coach, has also been overseeing their preparations and he believes it will be quite a task to play without their head coach.
“We have been training the players with the coach’s guidance since he won’t be coming down due to the pandemic. It will be a big challenge without him but we are trying to get the best out of the situation,” said Gosen during a virtual press conference on Friday.
He also believes that the empty stands and the neutral grounds will in some ways help the team. “As a result of this no team will have any advantage. The players will also be able to play freely without any pressure,” he added.
While he is not making any predictions on how smoothly the tournament can go on, he has only one objective in mid. “Our main objective is to lift the trophy once more. The local players are quite good. Because of the pandemic situation, knowing the players and training was a bit difficult but we have prepared ourselves well,” said Gosen.
Meanwhile, Aizawl FC captain Alfred Jaryan, who has been with the team for a long time now, is raring to go out there and give his best.
“Being one of the oldest and experienced players of the club, I need to help my teammates as a leader and guide and motivate them. I have to make sure that they are focussed in training and the matches,” said Alfred.
He believes that the new format is quite difficult but rather than worrying about the league format he is focused on winning the title once more.
“This team is one of the best teams that I have seen since the championship season of 2016-17. I hope and pray we can bring good results and make Mizoram proud once more,” he added.