Bengaluru FC full-back, Naorem Roshan Singh has opened up on winning the Emerging Player of the Season award in last season’s Indian Super League (ISL), revealing that being ambi-footed turned out to be a big advantage for him.
Bengaluru started the ISL campaign in poor fashion, picked up momentum midway through the season and enjoyed a nine-match unbeaten streak, which almost propelled them to a top-four finish. While they eventually finished sixth in the league table, Naorem impressed providing seven assists in 17 matches, the most by an Indian player in Hero ISL 2021-22 and the third most overall.
The 23-year-old is known to use both feet while playing, something which he started doing at a young age and that he believes has helped him improve in his overall play.
“It is good to be able to use both of your feet to get you out of the tricky situations or deliver things but still a lot I have to improve. From a young age, I use to work with both feet to make my shooting and passing better,” he said as quoted by Footballmonk.com
His performances earned him a national call-up, with the full-back making his debut against Bahrain on March 23, where he provided assist for India’s only goal in a 1-2 loss. He believes that there is a vast difference in the quality between club football and international football.
“It was a massive learning for me and a proud moment to be part of the national team. There are so many things to learn here as it’s a completely different experience than club football,” he added.
The youngster is currently part of the Blue Tigers camp that is preparing for the upcoming 2023 Asian Cup qualifiers which is scheduled to start on June 8.