Over a period time, football has become a very popular sport in the country. The standard of Indian football has also gone higher with each passing year.
The testament to which is Indian national team winger Lallianzuala Chhangte, who will now go on trial with Norwegian club, Viking FK.
According to reports, the 21-year-old who plays for Delhi Dynamos in the ISL and had donned the national team colours 4 times in his young career will be flying to Norway by the end of January.
He will be undergoing a 10-day trial at the club.
For the uninitiated, Viking FK had made over 60 combined appearances in the Champions League and the Europa League when they were known as the European Cup and the UEFA Cup respectively.
The team has also won the Norwegian top division title 8 times.
By going to play in Europe, Chhangte will be following in the footsteps of Indian captain Sunil Chhetri and goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh.
Speaking to Fox Sports Asia on the opportunity, he said:
I’m really excited and happy about this opportunity. I’m looking forward to this new challenge because I’ve been dreaming of playing outside India since I was in the Academy. I will not take it for granted… I promise you guys: I will give my best.
The official statement from the club read:
We in Viking FK are very pleased to welcome the young and talented Indian player Lallianzuala Chhangte to train with our team here in Stavanger, Norway.