Prolific right-back Pritam Kotal who has represented the national team on 52 occasions, winning three SAFF Championships and two Intercontinental Cup titles for the country has gone all praise for the Indian Super League (ISL). Along with his team, the defensive stalwart is set to face Asian football heavyweights like Australia, Syria, and Uzbekistan in the upcoming competitions.
On being asked about what to expect from the team in the upcoming competitions, Kotal told ISL Media, “ All players in the squad are very confident to do something different this year both as a team and as individuals.” He urged the fans to support the national team more and stick with the players, promising them that the players will not get feared and will go on a “face-to-face” fight no matter how high-ranked the team is.
Following such motivating statements, he was asked about the reason behind this change of mentality. Pritam Kotal replied saying, “The mindset of players has changed a lot, the quality of training has changed, and players are now more aware of what they should do when they are playing against a certain opponent. I think playing in the ISL has raised such a development”.
The national team’s first-choice right-back has had the privilege to train under various expert tacticians in the ISL. He went on to say, “There is also the influence of coaches, who give confidence to a player- build up, pass – whatever will happen, we will deal with it….. This is a change since 2015 when we started the Asian Cup Qualifiers for the first time.” Pritam Kotal further added that the process started then and now the sporting vertical can see the outcome.
The Indian football star, who happened to be an emerging player in 2015, a three-time ISL and one-time I-League champion, and who recently left the title-winning squad of Mohun Bagan Super Giant to join Kerala Blasters is confident that his team will give their fullest in the pitch to perform in the best way for India.
