Subrata Pal

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Subrata Pal (b. 1986-12-24) is an Indian soccer player, currently the goalkeeper of India national football team and Kingfisher East Bengal Club. He has played with the Tata Football Academy club[1], but rose to prominence with the leading Kolkata-based football club Mohun Bagan AC. In August 2007, he was part of the Indian team that unexpectedly won the Nehru Cup International Football Tournament 2007 for the first time.

[edit] Cristiano Junior's Death

In the 2004 Federation Cup (India) final, Pal was playing as goalkeeper for Mohun Bagan at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore. The Brazilian Cristiano Junior, striker of the opponent team Dempo Sports Club, Goa collided with Pal near the goal post while scoring his (and his team's) second goal. Immediately thereafter, Cristiano staggered off the field and lay down, and subsequently died in hospital. Initial media reports suggested Pal had "nearly bumped into Junior with his hand apparently hitting the Brazilian striker"[2].

A detailed post-mortem was conducted at the Victoria Hospital and Forensic Science Laboratory, Bangalore which confirmed that Cristiano had "died of cardiac arrest following over-exertion and excitement"[2]. Nonetheless, Subrata Pal was suspended for two months.

Subsequently, two more post-mortems were conducted in Brazil, which also came to similar conclusions[3]. The Mohunbagan Club Fan website in an unreferenced March 2005 report said that: "Fresh report from Brazil shows Christiano Junior was injured before the final match of Federation Cup with Mohun Bagan. He was injured at the spine and he should not [have been] fielded at the match"[3].

It is said that since the incident, he has matured considerably as a player, and is far less aggressive on the field[4].

[edit] Nehru Cup 2007

Pal was noted for his sharp goalkeeping as part of Baichung Bhutia's successful Indian team of the Nehru Cup 2007. His saves were noted in the semifinals against Kyrgyzstan[5], which enabled India to reach the finals of this tournament for the first time.

In the final, India faced Syria, against whom they had lost an earlier group stage match[6]. In this match, he together with Mahesh Gawli of Goa and other defenders, staved off wave after wave of attack by the pre-match favourites, Syria[7]. India defeated Syria by a 1-0 margin to win the tournament for the first time. Indian team coach Bob Houghton said that "Subrata Pal was splendid in the goal"[7], while The Hindu wrote:

India owed the triumph immensely to an impeccable performance under the bar by Subrata Paul. His anticipation in cutting off Syria’s aerial forays was the most striking feature of the contest.[8].

[edit] References

  1. ^ Soccernetindia-Home of Indian football - Content
  2. ^ a b "Over-exertion led to Junior's death", rediff.com, 2004-12-10. Retrieved on 2007-08-30. 
  3. ^ a b "The Mohunbagan Club Fan website", January 31, 2005 / March 2005. Retrieved on 2007-08-31. 
  4. ^ Suprita Das. "Pal goes from villian to national hero", NDTV, 2007-08-30. Retrieved on 2007-08-30. 
  5. ^ Jaydeep Basu. "Bhaichung leads dazzling display: India demolish Kyrgyzstan 3-0 to make final for first time", The Telegraph, 2007-08-27. Retrieved on 2007-08-30. 
  6. ^ Valiant India go down to Syria
  7. ^ a b Press Trust of India. "This is the beginning of Indian football: Bhaichung", CNN-IBN, 2007-08-29. Retrieved on 2007-08-30. 
  8. ^ Vijay Lokapally. "India wins Nehru Cup", The Hindu, 2007-08-30. Retrieved on 2007-08-30.