Indian men's football team goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu hardly watched any football on TV growing up. Like most of the people around him, the ace goalkeeper was hooked to cricket as there was hardly any coverage of football in India back then.
"I never watched football on television before. Back then, most of us watched cricket. My dad loves cricket and watched it all the time," Sandhu told CNBCTV18.com in an exclusive interview.
"We didn't have much knowledge about football on television," Sandhu recalled. Sandhu grew up in the early 90s when there was hardly any football matches shown on TV in India.
"I am not sure, but think domestic football was not shown on television back then," the towering keeper from Mohali said.
With almost no coverage of football back then, meant that Sandhu would've never known that he would grow up to become a successful goalkeeper.
He recalled the time he watched the 2002 FIFA World Cup. "I remember knowing about the 2002 football world cup and everyone donning Rolando's haircut. That is what I remember."
The first time Sandhu watched football on TV was in 2006. At the time, he was part of the under-17 national team. "My first football match was I think in 2006 or 07, when I saw Manchester United in action. That was with the under-17 Indian national team. We all sat together in the AIFF dorm room, and that is how I started watching football," Sandhu, a fan of former Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar said.
Sandhu was instrumental in India's win in the SAFF Championship, especially in saving penalties in the semi-final and final. The 31-year-old is now happy with his career. "As a kid all I wanted to do was kick a football. Now that I have got an opportunity getting it is something that I really love and enjoy it a lot,".
Sandhu, who has represented India 62 times, added that he ended up making a career out of football and his journey so far been good.
Stay tuned for the complete interview of Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.
(Edited by : Jerome Anthony)
