The Indian Super League has always been the hotbed for young Indian talents and last season the limelight was on ATK Mohun Bagan’s Kiyan Nassiri who announced himself at the big stage with a hattrick against fierce rivals East Bengal in the Kolkata Derby. The youngster has proven himself every time whenever the head coach has turned towards him. He wants to continue the same way and gradually cement his place in the starting eleven.
Son of Iranian legend Jamshid Nassiri who is often regarded among the best foreign forwards to play in Indian football, Kiyan already has a lot of pressure on his shoulders of standing up to the expectations that people have from him. There is that constant comparison between him and his father’s abilities. While the fans engage in these topics, Kiyan is keen to make things happen at ATK Mohun Bagan in the upcoming season.
Recently in an interview with the ISL’s official website, Kiyan Nassiri shared his thoughts on various topics. He was quizzed about the role that he got last season and how Juan Ferrando often turned to him whenever he was looking for goals or to add extra bite in attack. The 21-year-old shares how he relishes Ferrando’s attention and is ready to raise the bar higher for the upcoming season. Of course, I enjoy it,” Kiyan replied on handling the pressure. “This is what I’m here to do. I’m here to play. I’m here to show the coach and team that if I work hard and can gain their faith to put me on the field I will give it my all each time, all the time.”
“It is my responsibility to play under this pressure and I hope I can carry that out well. For me now, the bar is set higher and I am going to have to push harder.”
Speaking about his targets for the upcoming season, Nassiri highlighted how playing more matches over different competitions will surely help him grow and develop as a player. “Playing more competitive games at different tournaments I believe would be extremely beneficial to me because I hope to get more game time here and adjust with the team and play more efficiently together for the season to come. A longer season also gives us time to recover and learn from any mistakes we might make, so I’m certain it’ll be a good, long season ahead,” the youngster revealed.
ATK Mohun Bagan will be looking to regain the ISL title and also win the League winner’s shield which they failed to win under Antonio Habas. However alongwith ISL, the Mariners will be focused on the AFC Cup as well as they will feature in the knockout rounds. Speaking about the AFC Cup matches from the group stage, Kiyan highlighted how he was very happy to see fans back in the stadium to cheer for them. We played our group stage matches at VYBK after playing all previous matches behind closed doors for an entire season. So it was refreshing and nothing compares to a full home stadium.”
It’s an absolutely astounding and different feeling to play on your home turf with your home crowd backing your team. So yes, to play in front of your home crowd brings you much more power and strength to do well and fight not just for the men on the field with me but for every single person in the stands that are backing us,” he lauded the fans for creating a sensational atmosphere at the Salt Lake stadium during the AFC Cup matches.
