AIFF Media Team
NEW DELHI: Blue Tigers forward Farukh Choudhary, who recently scored his first goal in international football, explained that a striker needs to be calm and confident in front of goal, in order to succeed in his or her position.
Speaking to AIFF TV Farukh explained that any striker has a different set of responsibilities while going forward.
“I won’t say that a striker is completely different. When it comes to defending, we all need to defend together. But in attack, a striker has a different set of responsibilities,” he said to AIFF TV. “You want your striker to score goals. That’s the main reason why he’s in the team. The most imp thing is focus, you need to be focused for the whole 90 minutes. A striker needs to be ruthless in front of goal.”
While he made his International debut in 2018 SAFF, Farukh finally got his first international goal against Nepal in the second International Friendly where India won 2-1 at the Dasrath Stadium in Kathmandu.
“I’ve been trying for a very long time. I created a lot of chances, but never got a chance myself to score an international goal. I don’t know how to describe this feeling. As an Indian Football fan, as a professional player, to score a goal in international football means everything to me. I hope that I can score more in the future,” said Farukh.
“I have been struggling with this, and it often comes with experience. Playing more games, getting more opportunities are very important for strikers. You need to be calm in front of goal. if you don’t have the composure, then you can’t score,” stated the 24-year-old.
While the young striker still learns his craft, being in the National Team with the likes of captain Sunil Chhetri has certainly helped him pick up a few things, both on and off the pitch.
“I watch strikers in all matches – how they run, how they control the ball, and so on. I myself try out the same things on the pitch, so I’m always learning,” he said. “Sunil-bhai gives us a lot of advice on and off the pitch. The way he takes care of his health is amazing. But I also like to study his movements on the pitch. The composure he has is also the most important thing.”
The Blue Tigers are currently preparing for the upcoming SAFF Championships, which are set to be held in the Maldives, next month. Like his fellow Blue Tigers, Farukh has also been training hard at home in preparation for the National Team Camp, which is set to get underway later.
Looking back on his previous SAFF experience, Farukh fondly remembered his 2018 experience as one in which he donned the coveted India jersey for the first time.
“I was called up to the National Camp for the first time before the 2018 SAFF, and I really learned a lot about how things work at that level. To play my first international game was amazing. The atmosphere in Bangladesh was just brilliant,” he recalled. “And that too, we were playing without any senior players in the squad. We were all a bunch of U-23 players there, working like a well-oiled machine.”
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