Komal Thatal

Komal Thatal (born 15 August 2001) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a left winger for ATK in the Indian Super League. The youngest footballer ever to play in an Indian Super League match, he represented India in the U-17 FIFA World Cup in 2017.

Komal Thatal
Personal information
Date of birth (2001-08-15) 15 August 2001
Place of birth Sikkim, India
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position(s) Winger
Club information
Current team
 ATK
Number 7
Youth career
2011–2014 Namchi Sports Hostel
2014–2017 AIFF Elite Academy
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018– ATK 15 (1)
National team‡
2014–2018 India U17 31 (8)
2019– India U23 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 9 February 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21:55, 28 January 2018 (UTC)

Career

Born in Sikkim, Thatal began playing competitive football in 2011 when he joined the Namchi Sports Academy of his native state.[1] He spent three years at the academy before being advised by his coach to attend trials for the AIFF Elite Academy and India U17 side which would play in the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup.[1] After impressing the coaches, Thatal joined the academy and team.

ATK

After the U-17 World Cup, Thatal decided against joining the rest of his teammates with Indian Arrows, a development team which was to play in the I-League.[2] Instead, Thatal joined Indian Super League side ATK for the 2017–18 season.[2] He made his professional debut for the club on 28 January 2018 in their match against Jamshedpur. Aged just 17 years and 132 days, Thatal became the youngest footballer to play an Indian Super League match. He came on in stoppage time towards the end of the match as ATK were defeated 1–0.[3] Thatal made only two appearances for ATK in the entire season.

ATK retained Thatal for the following 2018–19 season. He made his first start for ATK on their opening fixture of the season against Delhi Dynamos which ATK won 1–2.[4] On 31 October 2018, Thatal scored his first goal for ATK in the 15th minute against Bengaluru.[5] However, ATK lost the game 1–2.

International

After passing the trials in 2014, Thatal joined the India U17 side which was to play in the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup in India.[1] On 21 September 2017, Thatal was announced as part of the final 21-man squad for the U-17 World Cup.[6] Thatal played in India's first match in the World Cup against the United States but was not included in the squad for India's final two matches in the tournament.

He has also played for the India U-23 and U-20 teams respectively. He represented India in the Asian Cup U23 Qualifiers. [7]

Style of play

Thatal was deployed on both the flanks by former ATK coach Steve Coppell. His preferred position is on the left wing where he played in his under-17 world cup appearance, and cites Brazilian midfielder Philippe Coutinho as his role model.

Career statistics
As of 8 February 2020[8]
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
ATK 2017–18 Indian Super League2000——20
2018–19 12120——141
2019–20 1000——10
Career total 1512000171

References
  1. Parthak, Rohan (5 October 2017). "Know Your Under-17 World Cup Stars: Midfielder Komal Thatal". The Quint. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  2. Banerjee, Ritabrata (12 December 2017). "Kamal Thatal Set to Join ATK". Goal.com. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  3. "ATK 0-1 Jamshedpur". Soccerway.
  4. "Delhi Dynamos FC - ATK 1:2 (Indian Super League 2018/2019, 2. Round)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  5. "ATK - Bengaluru FC 1:2 (Indian Super League 2018/2019, 2. Round)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  6. "FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017: India announce 21-member squad, Amarjit Singh to lead side". FirstPost. 28 September 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  7. Bali, Rahul (12 October 2017). "Luis Norton explains why Komal Thatal didn't play". Goal.com. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  8. Komal Thatal at Soccerway
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