New Delhi, Sep 1 (Inditop.com) India goalkeeper Subrata Paul has moved on in his life. The Nehru Cup win Monday night against Syria is now a thing of past for him and the youngster is looking to scale greater heights.
“The Nehru Cup is over for me. I don’t live in the past. Now my target is to keep up the good work for my club Pune FC in the IFA Shield,” Paul told Inditop from Kolkata.
His three brilliant saves that won India the Nehru Cup title are still the talk of the town, but Subrata is back at his Sodepur residence in the suburbs of Kolkata, enjoying his new star status.
The soft-spoken Subrata was surprised to see his pictures splashed all over the leading dailies and news channels.
“It was a pleasant surprise when I woke up in the morning. Never thought that I would be star overnight,” he said.
Saving three penalty kicks is a rare achievement in Indian football, but Subrata sees nothing great in his performance, possibly because he has been through tougher tests in life.
“You can’t predict tie-breakers. Yesterday, luck was on my side and I saved three penalty kicks. Nothing great about it,” he said.
He may make it sound it easy and cool, but Monday night’s performance showed Subrata’s mental strength that has been his hallmark since a rocky start to his career in 2004.
While playing for Mohun Bagan in the Federation Cup that year, his career was hit hard when a collision with Dempo striker Cristiano Junior resulted in the Brazilian’s death on the ground in 2004. The tragic incident was difficult for the teenager to overcome and he still doesn’t like to talk about it.
It was just the start of a bumpy road for Subrata. Next year, Mohun Bagan coach Amal Dutta made false allegations against him of taking bribe to let in goals against East Bengal.
At the age of 19, it was tough for any youngster to handle such adversities. But every time, Subrata was up against odds he emerged stronger.
Subrata was the darling of fans at the Ambedkar Stadium Monday. Chants of ‘Subrata Subrata’ spurred the young goalkeeper to achieve glory on a night that he will not forget in a hurry. Quite a contrast to that evening in 2005 when the Kolkata crowd labelled him as a traitor.
“What more can I ask for? Never in my life I have witnessed such scenes like Monday night when the crowd was chanting my name. It was an inspiration for me. I wanted to prove that I am right,” he said.
Amid the euphoria, Subrata stood grounded and remembered those who shaped his life — his childhood coach and former India goalkeeper Debashish Mukherjee and national coach Bob Houghton.
Mukherjee gave him the courage to fight that troubled phase in 2004-05. Houghton showed faith in his potential when the country’s top club East Bengal discarded him this year, saying he was unimpressive.
“Today I owe my success to both of them. I will never forget what they have done for me. Debashish sir sacrificed his time for me and Bob is the best coach I ever had in my life. Bob showed faith in me,” said Subrata.
Both Mukherjee and Houghton are surprised by Subrata’s mental strength and determination.
“He went through a lot as a teenager — the Junior incident and then allegations of bribery. But it was his mental strength that has carried him so far,” Mukherjee said.
Houghton feels that consistency is key to Subrata’s success.
“He is the No.1 goalkeeper in the country and he has achieved it because of his consistency. In the last three years, I have not seen a more consistent player like Subrata,” he said.
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