Indian professional football player Gurpreet Singh Sandhu celebrated his 28th birthday on February 3rd this year. He plays as a goalkeeper for Indian club Bengaluru FC in the Indian Super League and in the Indian National football team.
Indian goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu created history by becoming the first Indian to play in the UEFA Europa League, the inaugural Indian to play a competitive match for the first team of a top-division European club and fifth Indian to play professionally in Europe following Mohammed Salim, Baichung Bhutia, Sunil Chhetri and Subrata Pal. Indian national football team titled him as captain for the friendly match against Puerto Rico on 3rd September which triumphed 4-1.
He was born to father Tejinder Singh Sandhu and mother Harjit Kaur in Chamkaur Sahib, Punjab in 1992. He did his bachelors from DAV College, Chandigarh.
He started playing football at the age of 8 and joined the St. Stephen’s Academy in 2000. Later, he was tabbed for the U-16 Punjab team and made his youth state-level debut in 2006 in Haldwani. In 2009, he united with I-League side East Bengal as a youth player and spent the whole of 2009 with Kolkata-based youth teams.
Gurpreet embarked his career with East Bengal in 2010 and made five displays before the conclusion of the 2009-10 season. For 2011-12 season, he began with the second choice goalkeeper for East Bengal during the 2011 Federation Cup and later, he took over as the first-choice goalkeeper for East Bengal’s I-League campaign.
He launched himself for the first time in continental competitions in Asia on 6th March 2012 in the AFC Cup against Al-Oruba as East Bengal lost the match 0-1.
A Norwegian Club Stabaek agreement was endorsed by Sandhu on 15th August 2014 and on 18th January 2015 he made his senior debut for the club in a friendly match against Follo. He made his first league launch in May 2016 in an away match against IK Start and became the pioneer Indian football player to play in a European top division league.
In August 2017, Sandhu came back to India and left Stabaek. He united with Bengaluru FC in the same year and made his first appearance for Bengaluru against the AFC Cup knockout stage and his league debut was against Mumbai city. His agreement will conclude in May 2023.
International Career
On 5th November 2009, he made his first appearance for the India U19s against the Iraq U19s in the 2010 AFC U-19 Championship qualification. Then, he was paged for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup to the Senior Indian squad of 23. His debut match was against Turkmenistan in a 1-1 draw. He was also paged for the 2-18 FIFA World Cup qualifier squad against Nepal. He made his second show for the senior team against Iran in 2018 World Cup qualifier at Bangalore. In 2018, Sandhu commanded the Indian National team against Puerto Rico and performed a vital opposing part against Kyrgyzstan in a 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification game in 2017.
Gurpreet Singh Sandhu Achievements
One of the most prestigious awards ‘Arjuna Award’ was bestowed to Indian men’s senior national team goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu after which he became the 26th Indian footballer in the esteemed list. Posterior to Subrata Paul (2016), Brahmanand Sankhwalkar (1997) and the late Peter Thangaraj (1967), Gurpreet is consecutively the fourth goalkeeper since its outset to be titled for the Award.
Every year, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India bestows Arjuna Awards to mark the distinguished accomplishments in sports.
Sandhu has become the mentor of most of the youths. He also holds the excellence of being one of the youngest-ever captains of the Indian National team of football.
Gurpreet has surfaced as one of the blue-chip performers who represented India at U-19 and U-23 level.
Gurpreet Singh Sandhu Sports History
Being a trendsetter in Indian football, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu is a well-known name in the sports industry. Once, East Bengal fans had incriminated him for his offensive gestures due to which he encountered the acrimony of AIFF and his home fans. But later, the youth withdrew their accusations on social media.
Gurpreet is the big admirer of former Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar and Indian International goalkeeper Subrata Pal.
The 2015 tournament was a blended bag for him but he has always opted to safeguard the goal. He has always been recognized for marshalling the defence and is a bankable presence.
Gurpreet Singh Sandhu Images on India Content
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