Punjab FC coach Dilmperis backs Nikhil Prabhu’s ‘deserved’ national team call-up
New Delhi, Oct 7 (IANS) Punjab FC have been one of the better defensive teams in the Indian Super League 2024-25 season and a lot of the credit falls to their midfield general, Nikhil Prabhu who plays in the heart of the team. Punjab FC head coach Panagiotis Dilmperis claimed that the holding midfielder ‘matches the demands’ for the national team and deserves a call-up.
“Prabhu is working hard under our guidance. We try to develop him in his new position. First of all as a player and then tactically. Through time he will develop technically and he has a lot of future in front of him. With his performance, he deserves a national team call-up, especially when the national team has to defend. If you look at his stats you can see he does not lose the ball. He matches the demands of the national team,” Dilmperis told IANS.
Having gotten off to a stellar start to the season that has seen Prabhu win the PFC Sher of the Month award (Club’s player of the month) having won 35 duels, 11 aerial duels, made 18 interceptions and made 38 recoveries, the 24-year old is yet to play for India.
Dilmperis’ extensive 15-year coaching career includes stints at Iraklis Larisas FC, FC, Panserraikos FC and A. E Ermionida FC, and a five-year stint with American side Rochester NY among other notable teams. Dilmperis also enjoyed a distinguished 17-year playing career as a goalkeeper, representing clubs such as Iraklis FC and Agrotikos Asteras, along with several others.
It is needless to say Dilmperis had never experienced a setup quite like the Indian Super League (ISL) so the question arises what made him decide to travel across continents to coach a side that was promoted to the first division a year back? The Greek tactician revealed how the ‘battle for the development of Indian football’ was one of his key reasons for coming to the sub-continent.
“When Nikolaos Topoliatis called me and spoke on the opportunity I immediately said yes, there’s nothing we have to discuss, we’ll finalise the rest of the details. I had heard a lot about Indian football. Even in my school years, I used to hear about ‘Gandhi’s country’.
“I heard a lot about India while growing up and during my time in America, I had a lot of Indian friends who told me about the country. I had a picture about how there’s a huge battle to develop Indian football and I decided I would love to be part of this development,” he added.
–IANS
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