Star Watch: Makakmayum Daniyal wants to be a legend of Indian football

The IndianOil Durand Cup has always been a platform for future stars to announce themselves on the national stage. The stories of the likes of Shyam Thapa, Sunil Chhetri et all, are now part of Durand folklore. The 134th edition, played for the first time across five states, has probably yet again, given Indian football fans a sneak peek into one such future star. Makakmayum Daniyal, all of 18, caught everyone’s eyes playing for Bengaluru side South United FC, where he not only scored the tournament’s first hattrick, but also exhibited a composure and finishing quality in front of goal, which Indian football has been yearning for in the post Chhetri era.
“I don’t know how to express my feelings. It felt amazing to score goals in the Durand Cup as it was my dream to play in the tournament”, said a humble Daniyal, who hails from Yairipok in Manipur’s Thoubal district.
Besides composure and presence of mind, what was striking about Daniyal’s three goals was that all three were different and needed the striker to do a lot. And the teenager came trumps every time. He not only took the right decisions at key moments, but also backed it up with the required skills to execute them to perfection.
For the first goal, he received a through ball, seemed to have lost momentary control but quickly regained it to round the keeper and finish perfectly., For the second, he had to call upon his speed to be at the end of an overhead pass, then dodged past a couple of defenders to find the bottom right corner and for the third, he connected with a perfectly volley from inside the box and place it where required, after the defender had skied a clearance.
The Manipuri, honed his skills at the Under 17 and reserves sides of Chennaiyin FC, before joining South United FC in Bengaluru. “I started playing football for fun with my cousins and brothers in my hometown and I got interested but I did not have any support in the beginning. My father also did not want me to play football”, shared Daniyal about the time he started to play football.
“The support got better when I attended some trials and got selected to Future Football Coaching Centre Angtha (FFCC Angtha). Everyone realised I had some potential and allowed me to play professionally”, said Daniyal when asked when it all began to change. “Now my parents are happy and they support me completely and are happy about me playing football and scoring goals”, added Daniyal. He has also played for Eastern Sporting Union in the Manipur state league.
The youngster also shared his experience of being called up to the Under 19 Indian probables squad for the U 19 SAFF Championship which India won in May. Even though, he was not selected for the final squad, he learned a lot from Head Coach Bibiano Fernandes. “Bibiano coach taught us a lot of things in the camp. It was a great experience for me to learn from such an experienced coach like him which surely improved my game”, Daniyal said about his experiences in the junior Indian camp.
This was the first time, Daniyal’s parents watched him play on television. “They have watched me on YouTube but this was the first time they watched me live of television. They told me that they were very happy and proud to see me play and score goals”, Daniyal shared the reaction of everyone back home. Daniyal’s father Md. Ayub Khan is a farmer and his mother Sammila is a housewife. The youngster has four siblings, two elder brothers, one elder sister and a younger sister.
While asked about his personal goal, Daniyal replied by saying that he wants to play for India, like any other future star but he also has a bigger and bolder aim, “I want to be a legend of Indian football”, ended Daniyal.