Som Kumar’s Journey to the Indian National Team

Som Kumar’s phone call from India changed everything.

The ND Slovan goalkeeper has earned his first senior call-up to the Indian national team, a breakthrough moment for a young shot-stopper quietly building his career in the Slovenian second division. On 14 September, he will board a flight to Bengaluru to join the initial training camp, stepping into a dressing room he has watched from afar for years.

He goes there as an outlier. Kumar is the only overseas-based player selected from outside the Indian domestic system for this international window, a detail that underlines how unusual – and how significant – his rise has been.

At ND Slovan, the news landed like a trophy.

“Som's call-up is a great recognition for him and a special source of pride for ND Slovan. Our player will be part of the senior national team during an international cycle in which India will also face two giants of world football, Brazil and Uruguay. Congratulations, Som! We are proud of you and wish you great success in the national team shirt!" the club said in an official statement, capturing both the emotion and the scale of the opportunity.

This is not an overnight success story. Kumar’s European journey began in 2020, far from the spotlight, in the youth setups of Bravo, Krka, and Olimpija Ljubljana. Those years were about repetition and refinement: cold training grounds, small crowds, and long sessions designed to shape a commanding presence in goal.

The reward came with a senior deal at Radomlje, and then a move to Slovan, where he has already made 17 competitive appearances. Each outing in Slovenia’s second tier has added weight to his case, each save another argument in favour of the European pathway that Indian football has been trying to carve out.

Now comes the real examination.

Upcoming Fixtures

India open their international series against Panama in Bengaluru on 26 September, a fixture that will allow Igor Štimac’s side to settle into rhythm on home soil. Then the stage explodes into something altogether different.

• On 3 October in Kolkata, the Blue Tigers face Brazil – a name that still carries a certain electricity whenever it appears on a fixture list.
• Three days later, at the same venue, they meet Uruguay, another South American powerhouse with a long tradition of ruthless, streetwise forwards.

For any goalkeeper, that run of opponents is a trial by fire. For a newly called-up one, it is a career-defining audition.

Whether Kumar starts or watches from the bench, simply being in that environment – preparing to face Brazil and Uruguay, sharing a training pitch with India’s established internationals – marks a new chapter. His selection sends a clear message back home as well: Indian players who choose the harder road abroad can, and will, be noticed.

The spotlight will soon swing to Bengaluru and then to a packed Kolkata, where South American stars and Indian hopefuls will share the same stage. Somewhere in that build-up, a young goalkeeper from ND Slovan will pull on a national team shirt for the first time and look up at the stands.

For Som Kumar and for Indian football, the question now is simple: what can he do with a stage this big?