Sandesh Jhingan will have to wait a little longer to become India’s first international player to play in Croatia’s top-tier Prva HNL league after the defender sustained a calf injury in his first training session. HNK Sibenik head coach Mario Rosas said Jhingan was hurt less than 30 hours before their encounter against Rijeka FC.
The injury comes just three days after Jhingan was announced as a new member of the Croatian club. The coach ruled out Jhingan and Haitian Christopher Attys, who was on loan from Inter Milan, due to injuries in the team. For the time being, the two of them are out of contention.
“Mesa and Julardzija may be lost for the whole season, there will be no Bilic, while Kvesic and Sahiti are questionable. We also have to solve the paperwork for Sandesh and (Christopher) Attys. But that will not and must not be an excuse for us. Sandesh did an MRI, the doctors’ opinions are different. Revealing that Sandesh will not be available for selection due to a calf injury during his first training session with the team, Rossas added, “According to some (doctors), he might be able to continue training next week, but we’ll see, hopefully, it’s nothing serious”.
Jhingan, who was named the Indian footballer of the year in 2020, became the first India international footballer to join the Croatian top-tier league Prva HNL after completing a move from ATK Mohun Bagan to HNK Sibenik. Despite being one of the highest-paid footballers in the country and a lucrative 4-year deal with ATK Mohun Bagan, Sandesh opted to test himself in a foreign league.
“If you know anyone who had met me and spoken to me, and understands me, they will always tell you that I’m a person who never went after money. I always choose glory over gold. So that’s always been my decision-making process. Money is of course important, no but I just felt this was what I needed,” Sandesh said.
“I’m a kid who’s running to achieve his full potential and whenever I feel that this step will help me achieve my full potential. Even when I’ll be at 90 Awfully even then I will be chasing that dream, you know, which I started chasing as a 10-year-old,” he added.
Founded on December 1, 1932, HNK Sibenik returned to the premier division last season under a new management. The club finished sixth in the league, just two positions below qualification to European competitions. The club is located in Sibenik, the Dalmatian region of Croatia, a city with breath-taking fortresses protecting it for centuries and a beautiful Cathedral of St. James, included on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Jhingan started his youth career at St. Stephen’s Football Academy in Chandigarh and got a break in the top division with United Sikkim in 2011. Sandesh, as a young 21-year-old footballer first broke into prominence during the inaugural edition of the Indian Super League (ISL) when he was adjudged the Emerging Player of the League in 2014. A feat that helped him earn a place in the senior India national team making his debut in 2015 against Nepal at the FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifiers.
The defender has two ISL runners-up medals with Kerala Blasters FC where he spent six years and moved to ATK Mohun Bagan in 2020 after missing the previous season due to injury.
(With PTI Inputs)
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