Som Kumar (born 27 February 2005) is an Indian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a goalkeeper for Indian Super League club Kerala Blasters. He represented the India under-20 national team.

Club career

Kumar began his playing career in hometown Bangalore, at the age of 13. In 2018, he appeared with U13 side of

Bengaluru Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

. He then played for Boca Juniors U-13, and BYFL Academy team. Kumar's competitive club career began in 2020, when he travelled to Slovenia. At first, he signed with U17 team of NK Bravo. With Bravo, he took part in an U15 summer tournament in Italy. In that competition, he became prominent in a match against Bologna U17 in their 1–1 draw, in which he saved multiple penalties. He was then loaned out to another NextGen Liga club

NK Krka Nogometni klub Krka ( en, Krka Football Club), commonly referred to as NK Krka or Krka, is a Slovenian football club based in Novo Mesto that competes in the Slovenian Second League, the second tier of Slovenian football. The team play its home ...

, signing with their U17 team. He helped the team achieving third place in the league. He later appeared with U19 teams of both NK Bravo and NK Krka until moving to Olimpija Ljubljana. In February 2023, Kumar signed a contract with U19 side of NK Olimpija Ljubljana. He joined the team as their third-choice goalkeeper in mid-season transfer. After training with an Indian club, he joined Olimpija Ljubljana denying a move to the Indian Super League, stating "That was a good experience for me; it helped me understand how an ISL team works, and they offered me a contract. It's nothing that I have against the club or the ISL, but at the moment, I think my focus is to stay in Europe and train in Europe." He made his official league debut on 28 July, against NK Aluminij. He soon became regular starter for the club after showcasing his goalkeeping abilities in 2022–23 NextGen Liga. He also made it to the team's UEFA European Under-19 Championship squad, alongside friendly tour to Austria in June. In July, Kumar was called up to the senior squad, but remained uncapped in Slovenian PrvaLiga. In June 2024, Kumar was signed by the Indian Super League club Kerala Blasters on a four-year deal, till 2028. He became the first Blasters' signing under new coach

Mikael Stahre Mikael Lennart Tage Stahre (; born 5 July 1975) is a Swedish football manager who is currently head coach of Allsvenskan club IFK Göteborg. Management career Stahre was appointed as AIK's manager on 10 November 2008 immediately following the ...

International career

Kumar is a former member of both Indian national under-16 and under-17 teams. He was part of India under-16 team's tour to the United Arab Emirates, in which he appeared in their 4–2 win against Sharjah U18 on 36 January 2021, coming as a substitute for Lionel Daryl Rymmei on 62nd minute. He later earned call-up to the

Shanmugam Venkatesh Shanmugam Venkatesh (born 23 November 1978) is an Indian football coach and former professional footballer and currently, the assistant manager of East Bengal. He is an AFC A License coach. Honours Player Salgaocar * National Football League: ...

managed India under-20 team to participate at the

2022 SAFF U-20 Championship The 2022 SAFF U-20 Championship was the 4th edition of the SAFF U-20 Championship, an international football competition for men's under-18 national teams organized by South Asian Football Federation (SAFF). India was the hosts of the tournament ...

in Odisha. He made crucial saves in their semi-final win against the Maldives. At the final on 5 August, they clinched title defeating Bangladesh 5–2. He won best goalkeeper award in that edition. Kumar was also included in India's

2023 AFC U-20 Asian Cup qualification The 2023 AFC U-20 Asian Cup qualification was an international men's under-20 football competition which was held to decide the participating teams of the 2023 AFC U-20 Asian Cup. It was held as under-20 tournament for the first time after rebran ...

squad. They travelled to Kuwait in October, faced Australia, Iraq and Kuwait, winning a single match, against hosts. A year later, he was again included into the team by head coach Shuvendu Panda for their

2023 SAFF U-19 Championship The 2023 SAFF U-19 Championship was the 5th edition of the SAFF U-19 Championship, an international football competition for men's under-19 national teams organized by South Asian Football Federation (SAFF). It was took place from 21–30 Sept ...

campaign in Kathmandu, Nepal. They clinched their second consecutive title on 30 September, beating Pakistan 3–0.

Personal life

Kumar was born and grew up in Bangalore. His parents Vivek Kumar and Shama Kittur, both are former national-level badminton players.

Honours

NK Krka U-17 * NextGen Liga third place: 2021–22 India U-20 * SAFF U-20 Championship:

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

Individual * SAFF U-20 Championship Best Goalkeeper: 2022

References

Cited sources Further reading * * *

External links