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Sunday, January 16, 2011

India can compete at big stage but need experience: Gouramangi

Gouramangi''s career graph has been on the rise ever since the Nehru Cup in 2007 when he was brought into the startingeleven in place of Deepak Mandal who injured himself in thevery first game of the tournament against Cambodia.

Buzz up!The 24-year-old Manipuri, who was recently declared theIndian Player of the Year, said what matter is the performanceon the field not the awards and accolades.

"It feels good having scored the first goal but what wasmore important that we made a comeback after being 1-0 down.

Obviously, defensively as a team we could have done better inthe game," he explained.

"I think the most difficult thing for every player is towake up and go to training, stay fit and maintain the highstandard. I have to work on this every day. The awards comelater. I must thank Churchill Brothers for showing theirbelief in me.

"And, of course I thank Karim (Bencherifa) for giving memy first break," he said of the former Churchill Brotherscoach and now in-charge of Salgaocar.

Gouramangi has already built a reputation of scoringimportant goals for the country and most of his goals havecome from free-kicks and corner kicks.

His first goal came against Maldives in the 2008 SAFF Cupin India''s 1-0 victory and the second was the winner in thesemifinal against Bhutan in the same competition. His thirdgoal was against Sri Lanka in the 2009 Nehru Cup which helpedIndia win the match.

"The goal against Bahrain was my fourth goal. Most of thegoals I have scored have come from set pieces and cornerskicks. I thank coach Bob Houghton who allowed me to go upduring free kicks and corner kicks," said the ChurchillBrothers defender.

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