Lironthung is an inspiration. You see him dribbling the ball in social media, you see him training hard and you also see him thanking God every now and then. “If you want something really bad – you will get it one day” – He has proved this with his hard work. We wish him to scale up to greater heights so that he can inspire our young talents to follow his footsteps. Lironthung permanently stays at Merapani foothill, Bhandari sub-division, Wokha. His native village is Chudi. Initial Struggles…“He encourages upcoming footballers not to lose hope, have faith in God and work hard and one day things will open up.”
Lironthung started his journey in football when he started training in 2013 at Mohun Bagan Sail Football Academy at Durgapur, West Bengal. The academy is one of the best in the country and has produced some of the finest players. He was in the academy till 2017. After the training, he could not find any help and landed in a hopeless situation.
At that time, a gentleman from Manipur came to his mind. The man was a football fan with influence and had links to send players for trials. Lironthung first saw the man at the academy but did not get to know him well. One day, on the way to Dimapur in the train he met the gentleman again and both of them had a conversation. The gentleman asked Lironthung to get in touch with him for any help.
After 3 years, he contacted the gentleman and without any hesitation he helped Lironthung by sending him for trial at Mohammedan Sporting Club – one of the oldest and leading football clubs of the country. So he packed his bags and went for the trail and got selected and his career in professional football began – all because of the God sent angel.
His current football club..
At present Lironthung is playing for RoundGlass Punjab FC. He is the only Naga in the team. There are other players from Manipur, Mizoram and Meghalaya.
At his present club Lironthung plays Stopper, right & left full back and winger. He says “My coach uses me in all these positions”.
RoundGlass Sports recently acquired the former I-League champions Punjab Football Club. RoundGlass Sports has strengthened the club, offering players access to an international-level sports ecosystem through a team of UEFA/AFC/AIFF certified coaches along with world class technical staff, nutritional, educational, medical and training facilities.
On why Naga footballers are not rising up to national level.Lironthung says Nagaland has promising players but few get to play in good clubs. Main reasons being no promotion of players and lack of infrastructure and training facilities. In such an ecosystem, players lose confidence, he says. He encourages upcoming footballers not to lose hope, have faith in God and work hard and one day things will open up.
Lironthung says all through his struggles God has guided and showered him with blessings and this is how he has come this far. His dream is to one day play for the Indian national team and also the ISL.
His Favorites..National club: RoundGlass Punjab FC – for the high class coaching and training facilities they provide.
National player: Dr. T. Ao – even though he has not seen the legend play but he truly admires his legacy and sacrifice.
International club: “Too many” he says. But settles for Juventus FC.
International player: Christiano Ronaldo.