Mumbai: Nathan Rodrigues had one of the best seats in the house, as he watched Mumbai City win the Indian Super League title last season. With a smile, he describes those moments as the “worst feeling ever.”
The title came at the end of the defender’s first season at the club – his first in top-flight Indian football. But, it happened to be a season in which he did not get to play a single game.
“It was a difficult moment for me, to come into the first team but sit on the bench,” he told HT. “But I realised that I had things I needed to do. I had to work on my physicality and intensity.”
His fortunes have changed this year though, as the 21-year-old has featured in 22 of his team’s 24 matches in the league. This has been a difficult season for the Mumbai team due to frequent injuries to key players. But Rodrigues, in his breakthrough season, has managed to step up to help the team secure a spot in the playoffs which start this weekend.
“The coach (Petr Kratky) came to me at the airport after our loss to Jamshedpur (in September) and asked me if I was ready,” Rodrigues recalled. “He watched me in training and then told me I would be starting the next game.”
He has not looked back since. In the 1389 minutes he has played this season, he has made impressive tackles, important interceptions and scored three crucial goals.
His first goal for the club was an impressive volley at the end of a corner routine that set up the win against Kerala Blasters. The second was a looping header that rescued a point against Chennaiyin FC. The third, perhaps the most important, was a goal he did not know much about.
A man and goal down and at home against League Shield winners Mohun Bagan Super Giant earlier this month, Rodrigues rushed forward during a corner. A defender attempted to make the clearance only for the ball to ricochet off Rodrigues’ head and sail into goal.
“I still had to get into a good position,” he adds.
“There have been ups and downs this season, but the only thing in my mind is that I have to keep moving. It has all been about learning for me. I have gained momentum and my mentality has changed. Now I feel confident.”
The post-match feedback from teammates and the coaching staff has been invaluable to him as he looks to continue his development. But he also gets additional feedback from his parents in Arambol, Goa.
“My mother was my first coach and even now she calls after matches and tells me about all the mistakes I made in the match,” he said while laughing. Never the good, only the bad.”
Rodrigues explains that his entry into the sport was a bit of a competition between his parents. His mother Anunciasao was a former state-level player while his father Sylvester is a former international volleyball player.
“In the morning I trained with my mother and evening was with dad,” he says. “But when I started doing well at the Goa Football Development Council (GFDC) Academy, scoring goals and winning tournaments, my father said to focus only on football.”
After two years at the academy in Arambol, he was selected for the all-state academy in Margao. By the time he was 14, he was called for a trial at the RF Young Champs Academy in Mumbai. That was where he was eventually picked up by Mumbai City.
There hasn’t been much rest during the international break, as the team prepares for the playoff game against Bengaluru FC on March 29. Rodrigues though, is happy to put in the hard yards – it’s how he managed to grow from a player relegated to the bench to becoming a regular on the pitch.
