Indian national team midfielder Sahal Abdul Samad suffered an injury during the Blue Tigers’ second international friendly in the Hung Thinh Tournament against Vietnam on Tuesday. The Kerala Blasters superstar seemed to have pulled a muscle and was substituted off the pitch in the first half itself.
The player had to be taken off at the 38th-minute mark after he seemed to pull off a muscle and lay on the ground. The 25-year-old was rather quiet for most of the early stages of the match before he made a bursting run into the opposition box and unleashed an effort at the Vietnamese keeper from the right half-space.
While following through with the shot, Sahal immediately and instinctively clutched the back of his right thigh and was seen wincing in pain. Head coach Igor Stimac wasn’t in the mood to take any risks and didn’t hesitate to substitute him off in the first half itself.
The KBFC man was immediately taken off and replaced by his ISL club teammate KP Rahul instead. In the hours since the match ended, there have not been any major updates or indications about the true nature of Sahal’s injury and how long he’s expected to miss the action on the field.
The Yellow Army will kick off their 2022/23 ISL season with an encounter with Kolkata giants East Bengal at Kochi’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on October 7.
Samad joined Kerala Blasters in 2017/18 after arriving to Kerala from UAE and impressing in the domestic circuit. Since then, he has not only become an integral cog in the KBFC setup but has also become one of the faces of the franchise and a prominent player with the Indian national team. He has already become the second highest-capped player in KBFC history and is loved and adored by the Yellow Army fan brigade.
