McDowell's Mohun Bagan New Recruit - Pritam Kotal

McDowell's Mohun Bagan has recently roped in Pritam Kotal from the dismantled Pailan Arrows side. Immediately after joining the green and maroon brigade, Pritam has started leaving mark with his performance in the right back position. With only 1 specialized right back in the squad, Wahid Sali, Karim Bencherifa also heaved a sigh of relief after Pritam's recruitment. Pritam has been assigned Jersey No. 12 for this season.

Born on 8th September, 1993, Pritam Kotal started playing football from Class 4 in Uttarpara, where he was born and brought up. According to him, "Uttarpara Netaji Brigade" is the birth place of his football career. He would never forget the contribution of Sanjay Chakraborty (official of the club) and Anup Nag (Coach) in his career.

Pritam's uncle was also a footballer and he also got great support from both his father (Shibram Kotal) and mother (Mithu Kotal). Pritam has so far played in many positions; left back, right back, stopper as well as defensive midfielder. Pritam said, "Though stopper is my favourite position, I can play in any position where Coach will ask me to play. However, over the last few years, I have been playing mostly in the right back position."

Pritam played in the U-14 Manchester United Cup for Chirag United. His first professional club was, however, Wari in 2009. He represented the U-19 Bengal team that year which finished runners up, losing to Chandigarh in penalty shootout. Pritam played as the holding midfielder in that tournament.

In 2010, Pritam Kotal got selected from trial in the U-19 Indian team. He was part of the squad that went for an exposure trip to China where India played against teams like Villarreal of Spain, Chivas of Mexico and also a couple of teams from China and Portugal. He also was in the squad for the U-19 AFC Cup held at Iran, where he played 2 games.

Pritam joined the Pailan Arrows side in 2011-12 where he stayed for 2 seasons. In the first season, he played 6 games, whereas last year he played most of the games. In fact, in 2012-13, Pritam just missed 2 games of the Federation Cup. He played for the 1st team in Federation Cup, IFA Shield as well as I league.

Pritam Kotal once again represented India in the U-22 AFC Cup held at Oman where Arthur Papas was the Coach. He played 1 game in that tournament, against Oman (as the left back).

When asked to choose his best performance, he selected 3 games, the 2-0 win against Dempo SC in Goa (played as right back), the match against McDowell's Mohun Bagan last season where Pailan lost 2-3 (played as right back) and the match against Kingfisher East Bengal which they lost 1-2 (played in stopper position). Pritam still repents an easy chance that he missed against Kingfisher East Bengal. Pritam said, "Out of the 3 games, definitely the match against Dempo is the best. Holicharan scored one of the goals in that game from my through pass."

Regarding his joining McDowell's Mohun Bagan, Pritam said, "It was always my dream to play in one of the big clubs of Kolkata. I am really happy that I have got chance in the first team immediately after joining McDowell's Mohun Bagan. I was very excited after playing my debut game in the green and maroon jersey. I would like to thank Coach Karim Bencherifa for this opportunity that he gave me, and I will try my best to give good performance, so as not to let him down. I hope Coach is satisfied with my performance so far, though I think I can still play better."

About the team's chance in the I league, Pritam said, "We have a lot of important matches coming up. In the last 3 away games, we were unbeaten, winning 1 of the games. I think if we can play as per the instruction of our Coach, we will get positive result in the upcoming games."

Regarding the upcoming derby match and the pressure of playing in Kolkata, Pritam said, "We are professional players. The supporters will always want their favourite team to win all the games. There is nothing wrong in that. We will have to cope up with the pressure and give our best in all the games that we play. If I get chance to play in the derby match, it will definitely be a new experience for me. I will give more than 100%, stick to Coach's instruction and would want McDowell's Mohun Bagan to win the game."

Pritam Kotal's favourite players are Deepak Mondal, Rahim Nabi and John Terry and he supports Arsenal and Brazil in World Football.