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Rising star eyes Indian League football
JUL 30 -
Excellent control over the ball, deadly accuracy and a rock solid body, all combined, produced 19 goals in a season.
As a result, the highest goal scorer of this year’s ‘A’ division football league Santosh Sahukhala will draw the highest check a footballer ever did in the domestic league -- Rs. 50,000 per month. Sahukhala, who signed the record breaking deal with Luxmi Hundyai Manang Marshyangdi Club (MMC) on Wednesday said, “This is the result of my hard work.” Basanta Thapa was the previously paid highest footballer in domestic league when he signed MMC for a monthly salary of Rs. 30,000 back in 2007.
The 23-year old, who hails from Bhaktapur, is proud to be the highest earning athlete in the domestic circuit. According to him, apart from the attractive sum of money two other factors lured him to MMC -- the popularity of the club and the decision of quite a few of his colleagues to quit Nabil Three Star Club. “It is all teamwork in football. A player alone cannot make much of a difference. That is why I decided to leave NTSC,” said Sahukhala who earned Rs. 28,000 per month at NTSC. Anjan KC, Bijay Gurung and Sandeep Rai too left NTSC for MMC this season. Sahukhala, who was voted the best striker last season, says he was born to be a footballer. He has made ten international appearances from the national team.
Coming from a family which enjoyed soccer, nobody raised any eyebrows when he chose football over other sports as a child and the Madhyapur Football Club, which is near his house made it easier for him to spend hours horning his skills. His elder brother Bal Gopal Sahukhala is also a professional footballer.
He started playing football as early as eight years old and competed in many a school-level tournament representing his school. In fact, he had started out as a defender before his coach at Madhyapur English School changed his position. When he made his debut in the national league seven years ago, he had no idea footballers drew salary. He was given a lump sum Rs 100 per game, actually meant snacks. Next year, he signed a contract worth Rs. 5,000 per month with NTSC and has never looked back since then. He spent three years at NSTC followed by a one-year stint with Armed Police Force and a year more at NSTC. He has amassed 53 goals in the national league. Another feather in his cap is the international exposure that he has gained. He has the experience of playing in the domestic league from Bangladesh and Maldives.
Professional attitude is the only difference he found between the leagues there and at home. “All we need is an annual football calendar which must be followed rigorously and the rest will automatically fall in place,” said the hottest star in Nepali football. If the league fails to commence this year, then his contract will end up being much ado about nothing. As per the contract, if the league does not happen Sahukhala will be paid for only half a year.
Sahukhala says he was never barred from following his passion for football for the reason that he was more interested in playing football than studying and he had better results in football. Currently studying BBS (2nd year) at Golden Gate International College, Sahukhala is an avid fan of the English Premier League club Manchester United and Wayne Rooney is his model.
The popular footballer broke the heart of many female fans last year when he got engaged to Sony Shahi. During his free time, which he rarely gets from his busy professional football career, studies and a part time job at Casino Anna as brand ambassador, Sahukhala likes to watch action movies and try his luck on the basketball court. We might see him competing in one of the inter-college basketball tournaments one of these days, who knows?
Leisure aside, football is his arena as by his own admission he likes nothing better than play football. The sweet voiced player with slanting eyes has big ambitions to play in the foreign league. If Lady Luck smiles on him he might soon follow in the footsteps of Anil Gurung, who has a three year contract with Shillong Lajong for a sum of Rs. 6.3 million and try his luck in the Indian Football League.
Posted on: 2010-07-31 09:20
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