Ryan Williams chuckles and replies, "No, I should learn, really, but it's difficult." The 32-year-old was asked if he had learned Hindi yet. This is a strange question for someone who represents India in any sport, but Williams is not particularly typical.
He is the first football player to give up a foreign passport in order to play for India in more than ten years. Williams had to "beat through the bushes" and find his own path. However, as soon as he arrived, he became the center of the struggling Indian team's attack line and midfield.

In a 2-1 victory over Hong Kong in India's final AFC Asian Cup Qualifier in Kochi late last month, Williams scored within the first four minutes of his debut. He then orchestrated a number of movements that provided the team the fluency that they had sorely needed in recent years.
The former Australian was clearly more fluent in the language of football than the majority of Indian players his age. The actual language barrier was turned into a source of entertainment.

"Compared to Bengaluru FC (his Indian Super League squad), the national team speaks a lot more Hindi. I therefore sort of pick up on this and that and understand the main points of most chats. When Khalid (Jamil), the head coach, would address the group in Hindi and then turn to face me and say, "Oh no!" Did you get what I said, Ryan?I would apologise. Williams told The Indian Express, "So I'm going to try."
In Kochi, the home of the Kerala Blasters, whose rivalry with Bengaluru FC—the team he essentially faces alongside Sunil Chhetri—is one of the more well-known in the ISL, Williams emerged from those "bushes" he claimed he had to overcome in order to play for India."I didn't play there last season due to an injury, but the first season I was here, it was really hostile, very muggy, and simply not a pleasant place to be when you're in the opposition. However, it was very remarkable that they set everything aside to promote India. Like they would for any other Indian player, they were all supporting me. I felt really welcome as a result.
Indian ties
On October 28, 1993, Williams was born in Subiaco, a suburb of Perth, Australia, into a football-loving family. In the 1956 Santosh Trophy semifinal between Bengal and Mumbai, his grandfather Linky Grostate scored the game-winning goal. After relocating to Australia in 1974, his mother Audrey played for Western Australia. Eric, Ryan's father.Eric, Ryan's father, was a semi-professional football player who travelled to Malaysia and Myanmar as a coach. Before moving to Australia and making 14 appearances for the national team, Ryan's older brother Rhys Williams played for Wales while still a minor. From 2017 to 2019, his twin brother Aryn was a player for Imphal-based NEROCA FC in the former I-League.
Australia is far superior to India in football, even without looking at the FIFA rankings. Furthermore, India's next realistic goal is to compete in the 2031 AFC Asian Cup, when Williams will be 37 years old, after failing to qualify for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup.However, he claims that whatever reservations he may have had about changing his nationality were mostly dispelled by his family's Indian football heritage and his own ambition to compete internationally.
Williams claims, "I'm a "live for the present" kind of guy." "I can state with certainty that I don't regret the choice."
Williams acknowledges that, aside from his family's ties to India, he changed his nationality only because he wanted to play international football.