What’s the story?
Indian footballer, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu is all set to start playing in consecutive league games for Stabæk Fotball for the first time in three years after managing to replace Ivory Coast’s Sayouba Mande.
In the process, Gurpreet will become the first Indian player to start two matches back-to-back in a European top division league.
The context
Sandhu, who is the current goalkeeper of the Indian National Team, is now the No. 1 custodian at the Norwegian club, Stabæk Fotball. Add this to his list of acclaims. The 25-year-old is the first ever Indian to play a competitive fixture for the first team of a top-division European club and the fifth Indian to play professionally in Europe after Mohammed Salim, Baichung Bhutia, Sunil Chhetri and Subrata Pal. He is also the first Indian to play in the UEFA Europa League.
He started in consecutive competitive fixtures for the club last week, against Asker and Molde FK. While he kept a clean sheet in his first encounter, he was on the losing side in a 3-1 defeat against the latter.
The heart of the matter
Sandhu replaced Sayouba Mande, a player who was under the Ivory Coast bar at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and was Stabæk’s No. 1 since 2012. This 23-year-old World Cup custodian is committed to the cause and trusts his coach with the choice he has made, despite wanting playtime.
Toni Ordinas, the Stabæk coach, maintains that he can rely on Singh right now, even though he feels the keeper could have done better against Molde, especially in the second goal. He believes that Sandhu will have more chances in the coming weekend – most likely against Lillestrøm and stresses upon how this match could turn out to be an important test for Sandhu, hinting at the possibility of consecutive league games for him.
Given that the club has two national goalkeepers, Ordinas has always wanted to have the option of two equally good goalkeepers to choose from. While Sayouba was ahead before the season started, Singh has moved up the queue now and has come to retain the No. 1 position. It is important to Ordinas whether Sandhu would want to continue with the club after the contract is over this season.
Sandhu seems to be ecstatic about this opportunity to prove himself and is all set to deliver his best on the pitch.
What’s next?
With the keeper’s contract coming to an end with this season, it looks like there are bigger things in line for him. Sandhu will most likely try and jump up to more competitive leagues in the future, given his strong performances and meticulous skillset.
Author’s take
It has not been an easy journey for Sandhu over the last three years. Despite the massive support he has from people in both countries, there always has been the appeal for him to return.
Sandhu continues to juggle between the club and his country with an unwavering passion for what he does. It seems that to him, his love for football supersedes the rest. The Indian International has played an important role in providing motivation to budding footballers like himself who are looking at making it big in their career.
