AHMEDABAD: ASK Muhammed Asif what he misses the most about home in Kathmandu and he doesn’t pause long for an answer. “Talking in Malayalam,” he laughs. “I haven’t been home in eleven months and I don’t know anyone from Kerala in Kathmandu. Things are so bad, I try to chat with random tourists if I find they are from Kerala.”
But what is the 22-year-old from Malappuram doing in Kathmandu? To say he’s paving the way for a whole generation of footballers wouldn’t be an overstatement. The Manang Marshyangdi player is the first Indian to go ply his trade in Nepal’s football league. While some of India’s top players rush in vain to trial at various European clubs, the central defender has chosen to explore a less glamorous league. In Nepal, Asif not only gets to play every game, but he also takes home a bigger pay-cheque than he would have been able to, in India. It is a path no one before him has tried. And if his experience is any indication, it is a path that more young footballers should give a shot.
On Wednesday, Asif will march out against Chennaiyin FC in the AFC Cup. It is an opportunity that he could not have dreamt off, had he not chosen to explore the unknown. “It’s a great opportunity that I have got,” he says. “The league is tough. Especially, if you’re a defender for the players are mostly young and fast. To maintain my spot in the club side, I have to fight it out with players who are currently in the Nepal national team. My game has improved a lot since coming here and the respect that I get here, being a ‘foreign player’ has given my confidence a boost.”
Asif, who started playing when he was six, was part of the youth teams at Pune FC. From there, he began a journeyman career playing for Air India, ONGC and Calcutta Customs before signing for Manang. His move to Nepal might have put him on the map, but Asif admits it has not been smooth sailing.
“The biggest problem is loneliness,” he says. “I stay with the other three foreign players — all from Africa. They hang out with the other African players playing in the league, so I hardly get out of my room. And my parents were always worried about me. They wanted me to join my brothers in Oman. But now that they can see I’m doing well are fine with me being a footballer.”
While he played an integral role in a title-winning season for Manang, Asif still harbours the long-term hope of making it big in India. “I do want to play for an ISL team. I think my experience in Nepal has made me ready for that.”
What better way to prove that than a starring performance against an ISL team? He will have that chance on Wednesday.