team call-up inspired me ahead of AFC Champions League: Dheeraj Singh
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The talented Dheeraj Singh says being called for the Indian football team camp, which allowed him to train with the country's top goalkeepers, acted as huge motivation before his brilliant showing for FC Goa in the AFC Champions League. The 20-year-old Dheeraj, who has been twice named in the Champions League's team of the week, played a big part in helping FC Goa secure a third-place finish in Group E. Speaking to AIFF TV, Dheeraj said: "I got the national team call-up right after the ISL. It allowed me to travel with the senior team to the UAE. It was a big motivation for me to train with Gurpreet (Singh Sandhu) paaji and Amrinder (Singh) paaji.
"I was so motivated at that point that I reported straight to Goa after we came back," he added.
It was only around two months ago that Dheeraj was called up for the national camp.
"Getting into the national team had a big impact on my confidence. Our coach also gave us a lot of confidence, taking the pressure off our shoulders. He just told us to go out there and play our normal game, and that's what we did," added Dheeraj.
