Goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu has replaced Sunil Chhetri as India's captain for the FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifier against Qatar at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Doha on Tuesday. Sandhu represents Bengaluru FC in the top-tier Indian Super League (ISL), which is the same club that Chhetri plays for.
"I was happy to have both of them with us. We worked on various aspects of their game for the future. We had a nice talk before we released them and they know which parts of their game they need to grow for the upcoming season. I hope both of them will use the time ahead to improve and come back stronger," head coach Igor Stimac touched upon this development.
Stimac added, "Gurpreet was one of our captains alongside Sunil and Sandesh (Jhingan) for the past five years, so naturally he is the one to take responsibility at this moment. We have watched the Afghanistan versus Qatar game and will work on the attacking transition in the next two days, with a hope to start scoring goals from the chances we create."
Sandhu has played for East Bengal FC, Pailan Arrows, Stabaek FC, and Bengaluru FC in his professional career. He is one of the few select Indian players to have played senior football in Europe. He debuted for the Blue Tigers in 2011 and has been the first-choice goalkeeper ever since Subrata Pal was sidelined from international football. The 32-year-old was a key part of the Bengaluru FC team that won the ISL season in 2018-19, beating FC Goa in the final at the Mumbai Football Arena.
Sandhu has been a part of multiple title-winning Indian teams. He has four South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championships, two Intercontinental Cups, and one tri-nation series, which was held last year. He was honoured with the Arjuna Award in 2019 and won the ISL Golden Gloves in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 campaigns.
First Published: Jun 11, 2024 7:31 PM IST
