Sahal Abdul Samad

Sahal Abdul Samad is an Indian Professional Footballer who is currently playing as an attacking midfielder in the Indian National Football Team and also for the Kerala Blasters club in Indian Super League (ISL). He was born in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, and after completing his studies, moved to his native place in Kerala to concentrate on university football. The scouts of Kerala Blasters noticed his performance during the 2017 Santosh Trophy. He received his first professional contract from Kerala Blasters for the 2017-18 I-League 2nd division. He made his debut for the senior team in ISL in the 80th minute of a match against ATK as a substitute for Manchester United’s veteran Dimitar Berbatov, which ended in a draw. In the 2018–19 season, he made a total of 17 appearances from 18 matches. He has been called for the 2020 AFC Under-23 Championship qualifiers to represent the Indian team. He made his international debut against Qatar U-23 on 11 March 2019 before the 2020 AFC Under-23 Championship qualifiers. He also played in the 2019 King’s Cup.

Here are some of his career achievements:

• During the I-League 2nd Division 2017–18 season, he was appointed as a captain for the rest of the season in the 4th match against FC Kerala Blasters, where he scored 7 goals in 10 matches and became the third top scorers of the league
• In the ISL 2018 –19 Season, he scored his first goal for FC Kerala Blasters against Chennaiyin FC. He made 688 touches during the season
• He was one of the top Indian players for most key passes in the ISL 2018-19 season
• Became the ISL Emerging Player of the Season for 2018-19 ISL edition
• He was honoured with the AIFF Men's Emerging Footballer of the Year for the 2018-19 season
• In 2021, Samad was given the Hero of the Match award in the match against East Bengal, 1–1