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Hyderabad FC goalkeeper Laxmikant Kattimani has to undergo surgery after taking a knee to his face from East Bengal captain Cleiton Silva in the Nawabs' opening Indian Super League encounter on Saturday (September 30) at the Salt Lake Stadium.
Although the club has not confirmed anything yet, the experienced custodian is expected to be ruled out for more than a month at least.
This will come as a huge blow to the 34-year-old, who returned to competitive action in the aforementioned game after being ruled out for the majority of last season owing to an ACL injury. The shot-stopper was the victim of a needless challenge by Harry Sawyer of Jamshedpur FC back then.
This time around, East Bengal's Silva unnecessarily clattered into Kattimani as the latter managed to collect the ball cleanly from an East Bengal deadball situation. Surprisingly, the referee kept his cards firmly in his pocket after the incident and allowed Silva to go away without even a slight warning, let alone a yellow.
Kattimani was surrounded by Hyderabad players Nim Dorjee Tamang and Joao Victor even as the latter called for quick medical attention to the shot-stopper. Anuj Kumar was brought off the bench to replace Kattimani after it was confirmed that the latter would be unable to carry on.
"We need to make sure that when he is ready, he returns to a winning team" - Conor Nestor
The ACL injury that Kattimani suffered from last season in the game against Jamshedpur FC at the JRD Tata Sports Complex had ruled him out for the entirety of the Indian Super League as well as the Hero Super Cup.
In his absence, Anuj Kumar, Lalbiakhlua Jongte and Gurmeet Singh had stepped up to man the Nawabs' goalpost, with the latter eventually making the spot his own.
In fact, Kattimani would not have started the game against East Bengal had Gurmeet been available. However, the latter was away on national duty for India at the Asian Games.
Hyderabad's coach Conor Nestor, giving an update about the situation, said:
“We are very thankful to our medical team, and also the players on the field for their quick attention to Katti. He will require surgery. As a team, we send our full support and encouragement to him on his road to recovery.”
He added:
“Whoever steps in for Katti, will have to honor him with their performances. Katti has dedicated himself so professionally with great discipline to get back from an ACL, it’s heart-breaking for him that now he will be sidelined further. Collectively, we need to make sure that when he is ready, he returns to a winning team.”
