Wadajied Ryngkhlem has his eyes set on the Indian Super League. The 20-year-old from Meghalaya made his debut for the Shillong Lajong in the I-League last year. (More Football News)
In the few games he featured in for his home side, Ryngkhlem showed enough sparks in the midfield. He also scored during Lajong's 1-0 win over Tribhuvan FC in the Durand Cup opener of both these teams earlier in August.
In an exclusive interaction with Outlook, Ryngkhlem talks about his personal ambitions and his unfulfilled dream to meet the now-retired Sunil Chhetri. Below are the excerpts from the conversation.
Could you please talk us through your stint with Shillong Lajong so far?
Yeah, it has been very good, to stay here in my own state, the weather, the food, the college. It was okay to be here.
In the opportunities you have got so far, you have shown quite a bit of promise, what are your personal goals for this season?
The goal is to reach ISL. We have to work really hard for that. We have reached halfway, because we are in the I-League, competing with a lot of quality players, so we have to keep training hard, and put in more efforts to reach the level.
Can you please talk about your work ethic, training, and diet?
Yeah, I’m trying to eat healthy food, attend proper training, I often go to the gym to work on my body. I also go to individual training, besides team training.
How do you find the motivation to go out, giving your best, day-in-day-out after a tough training week/match, how do you prepare yourself mentally?
Yeah, I guess the love for football. I cannot stay home and feel tired because of the love I have for football. It keeps calling me. Even the teammates and staff, they motivate a lot. Mostly, discipline, we should be consistent, you know. I don’t feel like going to College Week because I love training.
Have you met Sunil Chhetri? If yes, what was the conversation like?
No, not yet. I hope one day, I will meet him. He’s a legend. For me he’s a legend, very hardworking, I really love him. He’s inspired me. You see he’s not a very tall guy, but he’s the best. He’s our captain. He makes most of the people in India to love and start playing football. He makes you look up to him, how disciplined he is, how good a person he is... maybe one day, I will meet him and ask him a lot of questions.
