Gurpreet Singh Sandhu: The competition motivates me and makes me a better player

The custodian joined Khel Now for an exclusive chat ahead of the Tri-Nation tournament finale.

High as a mountain. Deep as the sea. Gurpreet Singh Sandhu stands tall in the Indian goal to block all the obstacles that come his way. Not the first time that he has been doing it, but ever since he made his debut back in 2011.

Ahead of the Kyrgyz Republic game, the goalie, who is expected to start the game as well, joined Khel Now for an exclusive chat. Excerpts are given below.

Reflections on the Myanmar game

India defeated Myanmar 1-0 on the 22nd of March, but Igor Stimac claimed that if the refereeing would have been better, his side could have won 3-0 as well. Gurpreet however, was in full praise of the opposition and also sang the same tune as the mentor. He stated, “Honestly, it was a good result against a very tough opposition. Obviously, the rankings are very deceiving in terms of where Myanmar stand. But we know how good a team they are. With the new coach coming in, the players had something to prove.

“But, we as a team, after coming from the ISL, and most of us getting very less training, less days for getting together as a team, coming to a new city and performing the way we did, it was something which could have been much more in terms of the result. But a win and a clean sheet never goes wrong,” he added.

Concerned about the lack of goals?

Although his job is to save the shots that come towards him, the goalkeeper was quizzed about the goal-scoring issues the national team faced against Myanmar. He calmly reflected, “If the penalty was given, I’m sure Chhetri bhai would have scored. The goal which he scored in the second half, we saw it later, it wasn’t offside. So, if those goals were allowed, this question wouldn’t have been there.

He added, “Everyone loves to score, but at the end of the day, we need to look at the result. We won by a goal. So, I don’t think scoring is a problem.”

Reducing the stress off Sunil Chhetri’s shoulder

Apart from Sunil Chhetri, India, unfortunately, lack an up-and-coming striker up front. Manvir Singh is there but his goal-scoring prowess and inconsistency has always been an issue. Sivasakthi Narayanan was named in the squad but a nose injury in the early minutes of the ISL final ruled him out of contention. Standing at this juncture, should the stress be reduced of Chhetri’s shoulder?

Gurpreet Singh Sandhu said, “Why should we reduce the stress off Sunil Chhetri for scoring goals? That’s his job. I love seeing him score and that’s the way it should be. In terms of the strikers called up, it’s only Manvir, Sunil bhai, and Siva (Narayanan) were supposed to be there but he couldn’t join us. We have two strikers out of which one scored, which was offside. I have no complaints if Sunil Chhetri is scoring.”

Expectations from the Kyrgyz Republic game

Kyrgyz Republic earned a hard-fought draw against Myanmar, a side well below them in terms of FIFA ranking. Ahead of the clash on 28th March, India's #1 shared his views of the opposition, “It will be a difficult game. We know Kyrgyz are a good side with very good individual players, who come from a very good level. I’m sure most of them play at a decent level. They have had the same coach for the last 10 years. So, he knows what he’s doing. We have great respect for them.

“Our job is to go out there and make life difficult for any opposition we face and make sure we come out with the result. It’s going to be important in terms of where we want to be as a team. We want to go on the pitch and get a result. That’s our main goal,” he added.

Does India need more competitive friendly games?

Do India need more friendly games and highly competitive ones in the FIFA windows? Well, might be yes. But Gurpreet had a different answer to it, shockingly.

The 31-year-old mentioned, “Two friendly games are the most number of games a team can play in a FIFA window. It’s only for 8-10 days. The AIFF did a great job to get these two teams (Myanmar and Kyrgyz Republic). One is above us in FIFA rankings and another is below us. But they are greatly competitive. Don’t let the rankings deceive you!”

On his recent form

Plying his trade for Bengaluru FC, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was in hot form throughout the campaign. Particularly during the dying stages of the league, the shot-stopper was witnessed saving a few penalties, both during the game and in the shootout as well.

He reflected on his own heroics, “I would have loved to keep 20 clean sheets but it’s fine. I am happy with myself. Throughout the season, I think I was able to contribute to most number of games in the ISL. Unfortunately, we couldn’t end up with the trophy. But I’m really proud of the way in which our team played. I was able to show up again after two average seasons – both for my team and myself.”

https://youtu.be/LNuLFLMpgkk

Competition in the national squad

The Indian national team currently has two other goalkeepers apart from Gurpreet. Amrinder Singh is there, who started against Myanmar, and Phurba Lachenpa, who is yet to get his first international cap. In such a situation, how does the experienced custodian keep himself motivated?

He revealed, “The competition itself motivates me. We have very good goalkeepers in India. We have Amrinder, who has been there. Now, we have Phurba who has shown immense growth in the last two years. I’m very happy to have him in the camp and I enjoy training with him.

He also spoke of the other keepers who are not in the squad right now, “We have Vishal (Kaith) who did amazing. Big congratulations to him. Keepers are really good in India. We have Prabhsukhan (Gill) and Dheeraj (Singh). All of them are doing very well. The competition makes you better as a player.”

Gurpreet Singh Sandhu’s impression on the debutants

Igor Stimac gave Mehtab Singh, Naorem Mahesh Singh and Ritwik Das their debut against Myanmar. Speaking about Mahesh and Ritwik, Gurpreet’s voice seemed to be overwhelmed. He said, “Mahesh has surprising done well this season. He contributed a lot in his club. In the national team, he has come in and impressed all of us. Ritwik is a magician with the ball. When he is in his flow and mood, he can beat 9-10 players easily.

He added, “It’s always nice to see new players come in and see how the national team works. They’re trying to gel in as much as they can and prove themselves so that we have a stronger squad.”

Added pressure since it’s Sunil Chhetri’s last Asian Cup?

As per reports, Sunil Chhetri will call it a day after the AFC Asian Cup in January next year. Gurpreet Sindh Sandhu was quizzed if this scenario would add more pressure on the side to deliver something for their long-serving skipper. He started in a sad tone though, “I really hope this doesn’t happen. Cristiano Ronaldo is going on, why can’t Chhetri bhai?”

“If Chhetri bhai says that to me personally (laughs), then yes, it will be like we need to do something. But as a team, when we take the pitch, we’re training, or playing games, nobody is thinking about this. Everyone is thinking about doing their jobs, performing their roles on the pitch and playing to win.

"It’s a big moment if Chhetri bhai will not proceed after that. But we can’t think about that and go into the pitch because it’s not going to help anyone. Even if it is good or bad, we just need to make sure we are focused on our jobs. That’s what he wants,” he added.

Next captain?

Who’ll take the captain’s armband after Sunil Chhetri retires? A diplomatic Gurpreet Singh Sandhu dodged the question with ease, “Whoever the coach decides. If the coach selects me, no problem!”

Evolution under Igor Stimac

Under Igor Stimac, India have faced backlash from the fans due to their ultra-defensive approach at times. The AFC Asian Cup qualifiers in June was the only moment when the national team looked aggressive and the way in which they are expected to be.

The custodian shed light on how the team has evolved under Stimac, “We achieved our goal which was qualifying for the Asian Cup. So, we have done pretty well as a team. The qualifiers in June were one of the best three games we played under the coach. We can build on this. Of course, we need more time together, for training as a team. I really hope we get that in this calendar year so that we are in the best conditions going into the Asian Cup.”