Gurpreet Singh Sandhu: Bangladesh are difficult to play against

The Indian football team goalkeeper also revealed that he expected to win against Qatar.

Gurpreet Singh Sandhu’s performance in India’s goalless draw against Qatar was one to be remembered for a long time to come. As Igor Stimac gears up his men to face Bangladesh in the coming encounter of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu spoke about the challenges that the neighboring nation would pose when the two teams meet each other in Kolkata on Tuesday.

“It is a challenge, for sure, because no team is taken to be lightly. As I said, Bangladesh is a team who play with confidence and with heart. Teams like that are very difficult to play against. So, we just need to make sure that we go out there, recognize that, make fewer mistakes, and play to our strengths and as a team in front of our home fans and try to get a result," the goalkeeper said.

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India’s qualifying campaign has received a sudden boost with their stupendous outing at Doha. Gurpreet Singh Sandhu led the side with aplomb against Doha, singlehandedly defying the Asian champions and attaining a point from the game. However, the 27-year-old dismissed claims that it was his dream performance as such.

When asked about that match, he remarked, “I had actually expected us to win that game. I don’t think it was a dream performance. It’s something that I have to do, it’s my job. I would be very honest; I have played more difficult games than that one. But, they maybe never came into the light because we lost or drew that game. It is just that that outing was against a great opposition, so it is nice to remember that. You learn from it and try to replicate it in the future.”

He spoke about how the match against Qatar enhanced the team’s self-confidence, especially among the younger players. “It helped a lot of boys to have self-confidence, because a lot of young players who played after a long break. Be it Mandar Rao Desai, Manvir Singh, Nikhil Poojary, all these players played after a long time that too against a team like Qatar. So, it was really important for them to play the game and show to themselves what they can do for the team. We truly believe in these young talents.”

Sandesh Jhingan’s injury further adds responsibility on Sandhu, as the man at the back controlling the proceedings. On this, he stated: “Sandesh is a very important player for us, undoubtedly. I hope he recovers well and soon. I think the coach has been very smart from the start. He has brought in the mixture of young players so that we have those options and competitiveness in every position. It is not something that we wanted, but I am sure that the coach has prepared for such a situation and we have players coming in for Sandesh’s position. We won’t have his experience, but we would have players who will fill in his position.”

Regarding the Salt Lake Stadium, he reminisced his first derby game, between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal which ended up in a goalless draw. He said: “It was the first time I experience a stadium of this magnitude with around 1 lakh fans.”

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Regarding how he has propelled to become the number one choice goalkeeper now, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu quipped, “I started off in 2010, a time when we had a different breed of footballers, legends in their own rights. Now, football has changed, tactically and technically. With the team, the importance given to taking care of themselves off the pitch has increased a lot; it didn’t happen before because it wasn’t in the culture back then. But with the exposure of European football and coaches, it has improved a lot.”

Signing off in a light note, when a journalist quipped him about whether the fans would witness a more attacking display against Bangladesh, Sandhu’s response evoked some laughter among the people around. He simply said, “Ask that to the attacking players!”

India plays Bangladesh in their third match of the qualifying campaign on October 15 at the Salt Lake Stadium.