Shillong Lajong's Brazilian striker Marcos Rudwere keen on beating both spicy food and opposition defenders | I-League 2023-24

Shillong Lajong pulled a cat out of the bag when they signed Brazilian striker Marcos Rudwere in the winter transfer window to boost their attacking reserves.

Rudwere joined three fellow Brazilians at the club, namely Daniel Goncalves, Douglas Tardin, and Renan Paulino de Souza, and this must have eased his transition into Indian football.

Little was known about him before he arrived in India from Slovakia, although it is fair to say that he has led the line comfortably for Shillong Lajong in the second phase of the I-League.

Chatting with Sportskeeda, Rudwere elaborated on how he adapted to the dressing room and the differences in culture that amuse him in India.

"The season is going well for me, I would say. This is my first time in Asia, I'm still adapting, and I know I can help the team a lot more. Everyone welcomed me into the dressing room nicely," said Rudwere.

"They are all friendly people. I find the culture here to be totally different from what we have in Brazil. In Brazil, we don't eat spicy food, whereas here everyone eats spicy (laughs)," he added.

Rudwere has been sharp in front of goal for Lajong. [SLFC]

Given that he did not get much time to acclimatize himself to the conditions, Rudwere had to adapt quickly. The pressure of keeping Lajong in the top half of the table was also upon the new attacker.

The Reds now face Inter Kashi in Kolkata on Friday, March 22, and the challenge for the visitors is to take at least a point from this encounter.

"It was a big challenge for me to move to India in the winter transfer window since there was not much time to get acclimatized to things," said Rudwere.

"We also had to keep Lajong in a good position in the table. We are focused on playing a good game (against Inter Kashi) and go back to Shillong with a victory. Doing so is very important for us at the moment," he elaborated.

"I was not very happy with the draw" - Marcos Rudwere on the 1-1 draw with Namdhari FC

Rudwere in training for Lajong this season. [SLFC]

Lajong were treated to two identical 1-1 draws by Real Kashmir FC and Namdhari FC before Friday's game against Inter Kashi.

The draw against Namdhari came under fortuitous circumstances for the Reds as they scored the equalizer in the dying moments after Harpreet Singh had put the hosts ahead in the 38th minute.

Rudwere, however, was not very pleased with the drawn encounters and said that he expected his team to pick up all three points on offer.

Having bagged his maiden goal for the club in their 2-1 win at TRAU on February 25, the Brazilian is keen on adding more to his tally and helping his side achieve their goals.

"To be honest, I was not very happy with the draw because I know the potential of our team. We could have won this game but that is football. We will look to move ahead with a positive mindset and take as many improvements as we can from that game," said Rudwere.