Indian footballers currently plying their trade at overseas clubs
In the Indian footballing heydey of the 1950s and 1960s, Indian footballers were considered to be of sufficient quality to play at elite levels. Mohammed Salim, the first Indian to play in Europe, earned rave reviews in the Scottish press. “Abdul Salim, Celtic's Indian International trialist, tickled the crowd at Celtic Park on Friday with his magnificent ball manipulation,” was one such example.
Meanwhile, India also qualified for the 1950 World Cup.
Later, stalwarts like Chuni Goswami led India to glory on the international stage, winning the 1962 Asian Games gold medal and a silver medal in the 1964 Asia Cup in Israel. Goswami turned down offers from European clubs as he did not want to lose the security of his government job in the country.
Since then, Indian football seems to have gone into a long hibernation from which it is only now rising. The return of Indians to European football came with star Indian striker Baichung Bhutia signing for British club Bury FC in 1999. Sunil Chhetri followed suit in 2012 with a stint with Sporting Lisbon’s B team while goalkeeper Subrata Paul played for Danish club FC Vestsjaelland’s reserve side in 2014.
India is going through a footballing revolution with a lot of the youth deciding to make a career in the sport. A few Indians have also gone abroad to play at a higher level in the European leagues. We list five such Indian prodigies who are plying their trade abroad.
#1 Gurpreet Singh Sandhu
The Indian national team captain and goalkeeper made history in 2014 by becoming the first Indian ever to sign for a first division club in a European league when he signed for Norwegian Tippeligaen outfit, Stabaek. He also became the first Indian to appear in the UEFA Europa League as Stabaek played the first round of qualification matches.
The Indian shot-stopper began his career at the St. Stephens Academy in Chandigarh in 2000. He later graduated through the Punjab state youth levels and carried on at the academy before signing a professional contract with East Bengal in 2009.
After rising through the ranks at East Bengal, Gurpreet Singh signed with Stabaek in 2014. Starting as a second choice goalkeeper, he managed to make his debut in January 2015 and became the cup competition goalkeeper for the club. He made his league debut for the club in May 2016 and has not looked back since, appearing in the UEFA Europa League and becoming the skipper of the Indian national side.