Laxmikant Kattimani reveals what differentiates Hyderabad FC from other ISL teams

Goalkeeper Laxmikant Kattimani has become one of the key members of the Hyderabad FC, which currently finds itself atop the ISL League table with eight wins, five draws and three losses in 16 games. The shot-stopper has featured in each 16 of them, making 36 saves and completing three clean sheets. 

In an exclusive conversation with Republic TV, Laxmikant Kattimani spoke about his journey, the growth of Indian football and the chances of the Indian football team playing in a FIFA World Cup. 

Speaking about his tenure at Hyderabad FC so far and how different it has been compared to his stay with the other ISL clubs, (FC Goa and Mumbai City FC) he said that Hyderabad FC has a family-like feeling. "What differentiates this team from the others I've been at is the togetherness and family-like feel among the group. The foreign players and the Indian players; the technical and non-technical staff all work hard together as one unit and this reflects on the pitch," he said. 

He further went on to speak about how his typical day goes by in the training ground and said that training sessions are an opportunity for one to improve themselves "I believe that every training session is an opportunity to learn and try to learn and improve myself every day."

Speaking on the ongoing season and his personal performance, Laxmikant Kattimani opened up about his best save of the season so far and said, "The save against Kerala blasters of Jorge Pereyra Díaz". In the said incident, Kattimani pulled a great save to deny a diving header from Jorge Pereyra Diaz 

He further went on to talk about developmental players and told if a coach’s desires for results at the youth level can have negative long-term consequences on goalkeeper development. He said, "I think that now at the grassroots level, every coach wants to win matches which helps players to have strong and winning mentality at a young age. This is very important for the development of all young players and keepers."

He further addressed what young keepers who want to make it big need to do and said that goalkeepers need to get good at playing from the back "My advice for young keepers will be to learn basic goalkeeping skills, work hard in every training session, be mentally strong and work hard to get good at playing out from the back. As a keeper, all of this is very important now."

Indian Football not far from featuring in FIFA World Cup: Laxmikant Kattimani

Speaking about the growth of Indian football, which over the years, has witnessed many top foreign coaches and a few players having played in the league, Kattimani spoke about India's chances of featuring in the World Cup "We all know that ISL has helped all Indian players to improve individually and we can see that when our Indian national team plays. I believe that we are not far from playing in a World Cup as the development of players has improved in the last few years". he concluded.

Image: Hyderabad FC Media