Pritam Kotal

Some Lesser Known Facts About Pritam Kotal

• Pritam started playing football at the age of 4 after being encouraged by his uncle who was also a footballer.

• He began his youth career at Chirag United (now United SC) and joined Wari Athletic Club in 2009.

• Before getting married, Pritam and Sonela Paul dated each other for 12 years.

  

• Pritam’s international career started with India U19 in 2012, and after giving impressive performances at the club level, he debuted for the senior Indian football team on 12 March 2015 against Nepal in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers; he earned a yellow card in the match.

  

• Pritam with the national team has won the SAFF Championship (2015, 2021, 2023) and the Intercontinental Cup (2018, 2023).

  

• Pritam won the I League (2014-15) and Federation Cup (2015-16) with the football club Mohun Bagan SG.

• Pritam started playing football as a central midfielder but later shifted to the position of right-back. He can also play as a centre-back and left-back.

• While growing up, Pritam admired Deepak Mondal, a former Indian footballer who used to play as a right-back during his time. ^[3]The Times of India

• Pritam opened an academy in 2020 for underprivileged young footballers to provide them with training and proper nutrition. ^[4]First Post

• Pritam donated Rs. 50,000 to the West Bengal Chief Minister’s fund during the COVID-19 pandemic. ^[5]Business-Standard

• Pritam has been wished on four different dates for his birthday by different official Twitter handles of various football clubs.