India's national team custodian and an integral member of Indian Super League (ISL) franchise Mumbai City FC, Subrata Paul has stressed that he does not feel any pressure ahead of the new ISL season and he is ready to meet the expectations of his fans and franchise.
Subrata is one of the finest goalkeepers in India and in an interview with IBNLive he said he does not think about any pressure when on the field or off it and hopes Mumbai can top the league this season.
"I never feel pressure. I am always enjoying as I love to play football. I don't take any pressure in any of the matches, whether I play for my country or club or even when I am playing for my district. I love to play the game and I always enjoy football."
He says his team's sole aim this season is to play quality football and stay at the top after a dismal outing in the inaugural season where they finished seventh with 16 points.
"I don't want to predict where Mumbai City FC will finish but I am hoping that Mumbai City FC will be No. 1 in the end," the goalie said.
Subrata is of the opinion that pre-season tune-up has put his team in the right frame for the taxing season ahead. Mumbai play their opening game against Pune City FC.
"The preparations have been going very well. Last two weeks we were in Dubai for our pre-season. Unfortunately I was not there as I was picked by the national team, but the team is looking good and have prepared very well. Now we have to prove ourselves in the ground during the match. If we are not performing during the match, then there is no point talking about it. Result matters and we have to prove ourselves with our football not by the talks off field," he added.
Mumbai retained Subrata Paul in the goal while Subhash Singh and Lalrindika Ralte were also among the Indian players who will feature for the team again this season. But the headline-grabbing acquisition was of Sunil Chhetri.
The Indian captain was snapped up in the ISL auction for a massive Rs. 1.2 crore and Subtata was pretty happy to see him in the team and hailed him as India's best footballer.
"I don't want Sunil to take any pressure. He is a fantastic player and everyone respects him a lot. He is my teammate for last 10 years. I have played him with for the country, in the I-League, so it is good that he is playing for our team in ISL. He is one of the best players in our country right now. We are very lucky to have him and thanks for the management to have him here."
When asked whether the popularity of football has increased in the cricket-crazy nation because of the ISL, the 28-year old said, "I don't want to compare cricket with football. I respect cricket but hopefully football takes the message from cricket. After last year of ISL, I saw the difference in Indian football. Football all over the world is first sport and hopefully in future the case will be in India as well.
"In metro cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai, people like football. [The number of] People that came to watch ISL last season - I never expected that. So popularity is surely increasing. I think in 4-5 years you will see more change in the sport," he said in a telephonic conversation with IBNLive.
On the national team's poor performances recently in the World Cup qualifiers, the goalkeeper said hopefully they will start winning the games in future. India are yet to open their account in the World Cup Qualifiers after successive defeats to Oman, Guam and Iran.
"The national team of late is not doing very well because we are not getting results. We are playing well but results matter, and we are not getting that. In the last couple of home matches against Oman and Iran, our team played well but the goals are not going in and we are not able to get points.
"Our focus is now on the next match [against Turkmenistan]. If we give our best and can get some points, then it will be good for us. Everyone is right to criticize because we are not getting results for the national team. We need to start winning tournaments for the country, like the Asia Cup and all. But we also need to qualify for big tournaments in the first place," he concluded.
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