This Singham bites with his foot

Mumbai: Taking a leaf out of cousin Samson Singh’s career, who played for Air India FC, this 24-year-old took a liking to football when he was 13. “I started late, I should have trained from before,” he says. But little did he know that a decade later, he will rub shoulders with legends like David Trezeguet and warm up with Fredrik Ljungberg. ‘Singham’ means a lion in Sanskrit. Though the ‘h’ is missing in his name, but the mane and gait does make him ferocious on the turf.

Singam Subhash Singh – one of the heroes of Mumbai City FC’s 5-0 drubbing of FC Pune City last week – is from Manipur.

“When I was a child, I was fat and my father wanted me to do weightlifting thinking it might suit my physique. But later, he agreed on football and told me to play only if I can aim for success in the long run,” he says.

People in his hometown now have another reason to be proud after MC Mary Kom and L Sarita Devi’s achievements though the latter was suspended by AIBA provisionally on Wednesday for refusing to accept the bronze medal at the Asian Games podium ceremony.

The incident hurt the footballer too.

“I have been upset since I heard the news. This should not have happened. I followed the Asian Games, I saw her match. We all know how she fought that day. Though I don’t know them personally but I can relate,” adds Subhash.

So did he receive any message from Kom after his Indian Super League (ISL) debut? “No, I don’t think she is aware of me yet,” he says.

However, he is flooded with messages after his spectacular goal the other night. “Back in my village, people are elated for me and ISL overall. I have been receiving messages on Facebook. In fact, there were so many that I could not even read all of them. I am blessed,” he says adding: “I could not imagine that I will run faster than Bruno Cirillo to score a goal. It happened because I keep pushing myself.”

Moritz called him “a smart player” after their chemistry became the talk of the town, but Subhash, did not express much. “I was shy. I was overwhelmed from within but there are things which you cannot really speak out. It gets uncomfortable,” he asserts.

However, it remains to be seen whether this Singam can keep on attacking upfront when Mumbai City FC take on the Highlanders on Friday at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai.

“My friends keep teasing me saying, ‘look here, Singham has come, he can attack,’ now I want to keep that attitude and win matches for Mumbai City FC,” he adds. He is surely no less than the on screen hero Bajirao Singham.