Ashutosh Mehta is delighted with the National Team call up after an impressive season with Northeast United
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Ashutosh Mehta
Northeast United defender Ashutosh Mehta says he’s extremely pleased with being able to contribute to the National Team. However he adds that he’s currently focused on improving on his overall and won’t get ahead too fast.
India will be playing Oman and United Arab Emirates in the world cup qualifiers on the 25th and 29th March respectively.
Ashutosh Mehta talks about getting a chance to represent the nation
Ashutosh Mehta had a very good season with Northeast United with right back being an integral part of the team. He was one of their standout performers this season and helped them reach the knockout stages. This is only for the second time in their history that Northeast United have managed to reach the knockout of the competition.
Playing at right back, Ashutosh Mehta managed to contribute 2 assists and also scored once for his team. He also managed to make 62 tackles 23 ontervep and 26 blocks overall in the eighteen matches that he played across the season showing what an important player he was for them.
However the initial journey wasn’t very easy for Mehta as he had to tackle corona viris during the ore season. He’s obviously extremely pleased with the National Team call up but says that it’s important to remain focused at this time.
“It was a very challenging season for me personally, for the Covid situation. I was diagnosed with Covid, so I could not join the team from the beginning. Then my mother got critical and my grandmother expired. On the professional front, we did not have a full-fledged pre-season but we adapted really well. The season tested our mental faculties to their limits. If a player is not mentally strong then he would have suffered,” Mehta said.
It is a huge thing for me to get called up to the national camp. But I am keeping my head down. This is just a call for the camp. There will be lots of challenges ahead. My persistence finally paid off. I came close on a few occasions but I never made the cut. At the same time, I did not give up. I have waited long for this opportunity and I am going to give my all in the training sessions,” said Mehta.
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Ishandeb Tula
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