Sahal: Mohun Bagan matchwinner makes news on and off the field

It has been an eventful week for Sahal Abdul Samad, the genial attacking midfielder of Mohun Bagan Super Giant and the India senior football team. While he is all over the sports headlines in regional media on Sunday for scoring the all important goal for Mohun Bagan in the prestigious Kolkata Derby against East Bengal on Saturday, 25 July, Sahal was also one of the few voices among sportspersons who spoke out in favour of the raging students’ protests in Delhi.

His opportunistic strike at Salt Lake Stadium came on a day when the Gen Z movement tasted a major victory with the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, but the media was prevented from asking for his reaction by the organisers and the club’s media manager. Sahal, meanwhile, diffused the situation by dedicating his first-ever derby goal to wife Reza Farhat, a state level badminton player of Kerala who he married in 2023.

‘’I have to dedicate the goal to my wife, who has been supporting me for the last three years,’’ the 29-year-old former Kerala Blasters star said after the match. Incidentally, Sahal — born to Malayali parents — grew up among the Indian diaspora in UAE's Al Ain, took his first steps in the game at Al Etihad Sports Academy, and completed his schooling there.

After school, he moved to Payyannur in Kerala to complete his degree and play university football. He was spotted by a coach of S.N. College in Kannur, who persuaded him to switch colleges. After some eye-catching performances in university level tournaments, he made the cut for the district Under-21 side and then the Kerala Santosh Trophy team.

A creative midfielder who can also deliver as a winger with his pacy runs, Sahal has had 42 senior India caps so far and made a much publicised move to Mohun Bagan from the Blasters for a reported transfer fee in the region of Rs 90 lakh. Asked for his reaction on the derby goal — which always bestows hero status among supporters of the concerned team — the articulate Sahal said: ‘’As our coach says, every match is a derby for us. Yes, I am certainly happy at getting a goal but I am never satisfied with my performance. The season has just started for us and we are still a work in progress."

Earlier this week, Sahal said on his X handle: ‘’A peaceful protest is not a threat. Treating it like one only deepens the wound. I stand with them, not quietly and not from a distance. Their voice deserves a seat on the table, not a barricade in front of it.’’