Indian football had a red-letter day as the whole nation celebrated India's SAFF championship over Kuwait in the final On Tuesday on 4th June. Gurprit Singh Sandhu was the hero who as always, amid the chaos and tension, stood tall in the penalty shoot-out with his calm demeanor. This time also, Gurpreet turned out the savior for his country as he guided India to the coveted victory in the sudden death as India won 5-4 on penalties.

It must have been a deja vu moment for Gurpreet. Three days back on the same pitch at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, at the same end, he had made another stretching save to the same side, this time in the semi-finals against Lebanon, to send India to the final.

Gurpreet has a habit of making crucial penalty saves. In the last season of the Indian Super League (ISL) as well, the Bengaluru FC goalie had made the decisive penalty save in the semi-final to fire his team into the final.

This level of consistency is a product of a well-thought process. From the outside, goalkeeping may look like just a job of quick reflexes and big jumps, but the thinking behind the movement and dives has to be equally good, spot on, and swift.

In an exclusive interview with First Post, the custodian stated, “I have my own process which is a secret. It’s something which I can’t get right every time but I just try to read the player when they put the ball down. Try to know their approach, try to remember which position they play, is he a centre back, is he a striker, or a midfielder, just try to remember that and try to think like that.” He added, “ I try to remember what I have seen in the training from kick-takers who play in different positions. "

He continued, “For example, Subhasish Bose, Sunil Chhetri, Udanta Singh or Anirudh Thapa are from different positions, so I try to remember what they do, and in world football players from the same positions have the same kind of mentality.”

He added, "So you try to choose the side according to that thought process. In that short span of time, you have to process all these thoughts and then I choose the side and go for it. And I try to make sure that I try to touch the ball if they shoot it in my area."

Gurprit at the same time revealed that training with best player like Sunil Chhetri helps him a lot insaving spot kicks. 

He joked, “Sunil (Chhetri) bhai scores every day against me. He wants to practice penalty with me every day we train because he wants to do his training and I get to train against the best.” On the fitness front, Gurpreet said having good sleep and nutrition goes a long way in keeping him in top shape.