Abu Dhabi [UAE], Dec 30 (ANI): Halicharan Narzary, the Assam-born footballer, on Sunday said "as long as the goals come, it doesn't matter who scores" ahead of the upcoming AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019.

"As long as the goals come, it doesn't matter who scores. Obviously, I haven't scored that many goals in the India shirt. That motivates me to work harder, and improve my scoring abilities," Narzary said.

Talking about his individual performance, the winger said that his aim is to score a couple of goals in the prestigious tournament. "However, qualifying for the round of 16 is of paramount importance," he stressed.

"It was up to me to work hard, improve myself, and prove to the coach that I deserved to be in that list of 23. Now that he has selected me, I aim to score a couple of goals in the tournament. Of course, qualifying for the round of 16 is of paramount importance," he said.

Narzary, who had to warm the bench in the Jordon match, further said, "I want to fight for my country. But it was understandable that the coach kept me out after we were stuck in the Kuwait Airport for almost 32 hours. We were not physically fit to play that day. But everyone worked hard against Jordan."

When asked about the challenging side in group matches, the winger said it is always difficult to play against a home team, "so the match against UAE will be the toughest." "I feel that the match against the UAE will be the toughest. They are the hosts, and it is always difficult to play against a home team in a big competition. The crowd will be like the 12th man for them. So we will have to work even harder, in order to get a good result," he said.

Reflecting on his struggle that the Assam-born player had to face during his childhood days, Narzary said, "I had a really difficult time when I was a kid. I had to struggle a lot back then. But it gives me immense satisfaction where I have reached now, after all the hard work. My family also helped me a lot during those days. I would not have been what I was, had it not been for them."

"I am not someone who belongs to an affluent family. My parents had to struggle to make ends meet. Playing football professionally was a distant dream for me at that time. Let alone playing football, even owning a proper football boot was a far-fetched dream for me during my childhood," he concluded.

India have been drawn in Group A along with hosts UAE, Thailand and Bahrain. The Blue Tigers will play their first match against Thailand on January 6, followed by a face-off with UAE and Bahrain on January 10 and January 14 respectively. (ANI)

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