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Gurpreet Singh Sandhu is now in his 13th year of national team duty. The most experienced player in the Indian squad after Sunil Chhetri's retirement, he completed a diamond jubilee of international caps (75) against Vietnam last month, wearing the captain's armband and crucially saving a penalty.
Currently training in Hyderabad with the Blue Tigers ahead of the friendly against Malaysia on November 18, Sandhu shared his thoughts on the preparations during a virtual media interaction on Wednesday. "Everyone knows this is our last FIFA friendly window before the all-important Asian Cup Qualifiers in March. So, it's very important for us to make the most of this opportunity. We are happy to have a familiar face in Sandesh Jhingan coming back. It's great to see that he's recovered well and has already played a couple of games (for FC Goa)," said Sandhu as quoted by the AIFF official website "We have five more days of training before the Malaysia game, which is good because it allows us time to work together as a team and get used to the new system that is in place with our coach," the goalkeeper added. India faced Malaysia in the Merdeka Tournament last October in Kuala Lumpur, going down 2-4 in a fiercely contested game, which was the first time Sandhu played against the Southeast Asian side. Sandhu believed that was an unlucky result for the Indians and the scoreline didn't justify the efforts. However, the Blue Tigers are highly motivated to change that and add a green mark to the scoreline in Hyderabad this time. "It was a different experience playing in Malaysia. They're a good side with a lot of new faces, and a lot of quality players coming from elsewhere and helping them out. We could have got something more out of that game. It was an unlucky result for us, knowing that we scored a goal which was not allowed. Things like that happen in football. We need to brush aside what happened last time. We have a clean board in front of us and we need to make sure that we get the best result at home," Sandhu said. Sandhu opened up about the intense competition he faces in the goalkeeping position in the national team. With top custodians like Amrinder Singh and Vishal Kaith, who are key players of their ISL clubs, every national team training session is an opportunity to push the other to their limits and bag a spot in the starting eleven. "Playing for the national team comes with a lot of responsibility. It is a privileged position and I know the importance of it. So, as long as I am here, I will give my hundred percent. It's always a pleasure to have goalkeepers like Amrinder and Vishal in the team, knowing that they can push me and I push them. It's all about being a team here in the Indian squad. It's not about who is playing and who's not. I feel lucky to have such healthy competition. And that's not just the case in my position, but the outfielders as well. There's a lot of new blood coming into the team, who have been doing well for their clubs. Everyone wants to play for the national team. We hail from different clubs, but when we come here, it's about getting together to work for one goal. It's a very professional and healthy space in the national team right now," Sandhu said. And at the moment, in the bigger picture, that goal is to qualify for a third successive AFC Asian Cup, which should be the bare minimum target for our team, according to Sandhu, who has been part of three Asian Cup squads (2011, 2019 and 2023). "With every camp under Manolo, we're getting close to what he wants us to be as a team. With time and the level of coaching and experience that he has, I have no doubt that we'll be a strong team in the Asian Cup qualifiers. I think qualifying is the minimum for us as a team that we should strive to do, because we have done it already in the last two editions. This should be a no-brainer for us as a team now. We have to qualify for every single Asian Cup. So, let's keep our head down and work for that target," said Sandhu. (ANI)
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