The mood is all upbeat and uplifting for Paro FC these days, and it’s obviously for a good reason. The team is gearing up for the upcoming Asian Football Confederation (AFC). They will play against the Valencia Football Club of the Maldives. The match will be played on the 5th of next month in the Maldives.
Before the match, the 21 players of Paro FC will train for almost a week in Delhi. They intend to focus on making the players adjust to a new climate and environment of a foreign country.
The team will fly to Delhi on Monday. On the sidelines of the training, it will play two friendly matches with the Sudeva Academy-an Indian football club.
If the situation favours, three international players will join the team in Delhi. The club also recently signed a winger on loan from Transport United FC.
“Our boys in the squad have little or no exposure at all. We have a few strong players from the national team but they also don’t have much experience or exposure to playing on foreign pitches,” said Karma Jigme, President of Paro FC.
“That’s why we decided to hire three international professional players to boost confidence and share their experience with our boys,” added the President.
The Paro FC Club after its inception in 2018 qualified for the AFC Cup in 2020. So, the club’s coach has high expectations from the upcoming AFC Cup.
“Valencia is one of the popular and well-established clubs in the Maldives. From our review and analysis of their matches, we anticipate their strength and weaknesses. We have prepared well and we hope to give them a stiff competition,” told Pushpalal Sharma, Coach of Paro FC.
The club underwent a month-long rigorous preparation in the containment zone in Paro. The captain of the team, 30-year-old Kuenley Wangchuk, is optimistic that this strenuous preparation will work in their favour.
“Because we were preparing in containment zone, we came closer as a team. We prepared well and our only goal is to win. We are optimistic about it. Our only worry is the weather and altitude variation,” reasoned the team captain.
If the club emerges victorious in the first preliminary match, they will head into round two where they will face Bangladeshi’s Abahani Ltd Dhaka FC.
Namgay Wangchuk, Paro
Edited by Pema Lhaden
