ISL Season 8: Indian Super League outfit SC East Bengal have roped in Nepalese international centre back Ananta Tamang on a free transfer for the remainder of the season. The Red and Golds have only four matches left in their current campaign and their hopes of getting into the playoffs are already over. Follow all the ISL 2021-22 LIVE Updates only on InsideSport.IN
The move reportedly suggests that Tamang joins the club as their sole AFC Quota replacing Australian defender Tomislav Mrcela. The Australian struggled with injury problems and waning form and finally, news suggests that the centre back is all set to leave making way for Ananta Tamang.
The 24-year-old centre back has already featured for Nepal national team a total of 43 times. He is currently their mainstay at the hearty of the defence along with Dinesh Rajbanshi. Nepal have a very young defensive lineup therefore Tamang is considered a senior pro among youngsters.
Tamang came up through age-group level and has represented Nepal at several age group tournaments. It all started with Nepal U-16 where he guided the team to the finals of the SAFF U16 Championship back in 2013. His impressive performance in fortifying the backline saw him break into the Nepal U-19. His performance at this level caught the eye of many people in Nepal as he was soon included in the Nepal U-23 team.
Here Tamang won the South Asian Games in 2016 and then followed it up by winning the event again in 2019. The Gorkhalis defeated Bhutan in the finals to bag the Gold medal at the 2019 South Asian Games. His noteworthy efforts in both events meant that soon he got the senior team callup and since then Tamang has been a stalwart in defence for Nepal.
Interestingly Tamanag spent some time at Spanish lower division outfit Marbella FC Academy back in 2017-18 season. He currently plies his trade for Nepalese outfit Three Star Club. The 24-year-old also featured for Nepal in the 2021 SAFF Championship where the Gorkhalis reached the finals. Although they were defeated by India in the finals Tamang did impress a few people with his dogged defending throughout the course of the tournament.
Ananta Tamang becomes the first Nepalese footballer to feature in the India Super League as he will immediately look to join the club and will look to prove his worth to head coach Mario Rivera and all the Red and Golds supporters all over the globe.
SC East Bengal have struggled all season and have also parted ways with their former head coach Manolo Diaz. Later current coach Mario Rivera joined and studied the ship. But lack of quality players meant that they were always a level below the other teams. The Red and Golds are tenth in the points table with 10 points from 16 matches and are only ahead of last-placed NorthEast United on goal difference.
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