Outside fo the Boot

A regular feature on our website is the Talent Radar Team of the Week with the best young players compiled into an XI from across Europe’s top seven leagues. Age Limit: 22 years old on match-day for outfield players, 23 years old for goalkeepers] Pick up of the performers from this week has to be prefixed by Luka Jovic. Anthony Martial scored twice in Manchester United’s 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge, a change of his fortunes under Mourinho maybe? Fellow loanee, Lazaros Lamprou, who is at Dutch side Fortuna Sittard for the 2018 season from PAOK, grabbed two as well in what was his first Eredivisie goals in the 3-1 win over De Graafschap.

Being the coach of the district team also, Singh began harnessing Dheeraj’s potential and made him Bishnupur district’s goalkeeper in the U-14 inter-district state championship of 2011. In no more than a year of his exclusion from the U-14 team, a 13-year-old Dheeraj was back in the national team; only this time he would be traveling to Kathmandu for the U-16 SAFF Championship as India’s first choice goalkeeper. In the next few years, Dheeraj honed his craft and became the group’s first choice goalkeeper by the time the team left for the various exposure tours to Europe in 2015. Delhi, a non-footballing city on the best of days, stood up and applauded the Indian National Football team’s efforts.

Having produced players such as Mark Bosnich, Mark Schwarzer and the current Socceroo Matthew Ryan, they continue producing good goalkeepers with the brightest prospect in the A-League being Paul Izzo. With Sydney being in the AFC Champions League again next year, this is his chance to prove himself to the rest of the continent, but he’ll have to maintain a solid level in the A-League as well. He’s a very unpredictable player with a good eye for goal and a good dribbling ability. Last season he struggled with consistency, but he is a clearly talented player who will look to put those issues aside and improve as a player in Melbourne Victory’s title defence, as well as get minutes in the upcoming AFC Champions League of next year.

And as easy as it sounds to a general audience, playing a foreign club is very tough ask for someone from India, which hardly has any reputation for being a football country. I’m not representing my family or loved ones or something, I want to represent this whole country because it’s difficult, the impression we have in India of our football is not even close to what perception they have of our country abroad. He says: “Parents are the most important thing and I know many people in India who aren’t as fortunate as me and do not have supportive parents. The likes of Bhaichung Bhutia and Sunil Chhetri have also played abroad, but their stints saw them go back to playing in India.