Atanu Bhattacharya

Atanu Bhattacharya is an Indian former footballer, Asian All Star Goalkeeper and captain of the India national team. He has played for India in the 1984 Asian Cup alongside many other tournaments. During his playing career, he has represented all the three giants - East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan Sporting Club (Kolkata) for 4 years each. He has played for the India national team for over 12 years. He has also captained the National team in the 1984 Nehru Gold Cup. He is remembered for his immense contribution to the India national team and also for his selection into the Asian All Star team. He is one of those footballers who has played for all the three clubs. A fun fact being that he first played for India and then got a call for the Bengal team that later won the Santosh Trophy. He was only at BNR when he got selected for the India national team unlike most who were playing at big clubs. His performance in the game against Argentina in the year 1984 is highly recognised.He worked as deputy general manager and joint director–food in Food Corporation of India.

His biggest achievement is his selection in the 1986 Asian All Star team for his stellar performance under the sticks in the 1984 AFC ASIA CUP Qualifiers and Group stage of the tournament where his heroics and exceptional goalkeeping earned him the spot.

In the Asian All Star match held in Doha, Qatar, the ASIA 11 team played two matches against the Hungary National team which were preparing for the historic FIFA World Cup of 1986 which the same Argentina team (except Maradona) that faced India in the Nehru cup of 1984 won. Atanu was highly praised for his outstanding performance against the Hungary national team in the second match. Provided by Wikipedia