City boy to save India nets at AFC Asian Cup

Cup beginning January 7 at Doha in Qatar.

Arindham Bhattacharya had suffered an injury and AIFF sent him an urgent message to join the team.

His mother Harjeet Kaur said: “After the Asian Games at Guangzhou,Gurpreet had come back to Delhi. But he was immediately called by AIFF to join the Indian team. He could not believe that his dreams were coming true. He immediately packed his bags and left for Doha.”

When the final list of the 23 players was released,it announced Gurpreet’s name with the moniker of ‘the youngest member of the Indian team’.

Harjeet said: “He has worked very hard to reach where he is today. He is very excited and he calls me up and tells about the players and coaches. He said that since he is the youngest,all the players and coaches support him and guide him whenever he needs help. We are very proud of him.”

Harjeet,who works with the Chandigarh Police,says that her phone has not stopped ringing even since his son left for Doha. Relatives have been regularly inquiring about Gurpreet.

“If somebody calls us asking about Gurpreet,we tell them how he has made Chandigarh football proud. We also show our relatives the tapes of his matches at the Asian Games against Japan and Singapore,” Harjeet added.

Surinder Singh,the coach of St Stephen’s Football Academy from whom Gurpreet learned the basics of the game,said the tournament is important for Gurpreet to cement his place in the Indian team.

“It would be a good experience for Gurpreet to play in such a prestigious tournament,and the presence of his idol Subrata Paul will lift his spirits. I saw the practice matches between India and the other countries and he performed exceedingly well and made most of the chances that came his way. He is a very good student and that is why national coach Bob Houghton has called him the most promising player at the moment. Those are very inspiring words for a player who has just started his career. Besides,he is the lone player from Chandigarh to be a part of the Indian senior football team,” added Singh.

Gurpreet,who originally belongs to Chamkaur Sahib in Punjab,was a regular member of the Indian Under-14,Under-16 and Under-19 teams.

But his first big break came when he was signed by East Bengal Football Club in January 2009. Since then he has not looked back. At present,he is the goalkeeper of AIFF XI in the I-League,where his two other Chandigarh mates,Bikramjit Singh and Deepak Devrani are also part of the team.

Gurpreet has more than 20 international matches to his credit. He was also a member of the Indian team for the SAFF Championship held in Bangladesh last year.