BANGALORE: Argentina and Netherlands are his favourite teams and Lionel Messi, the Argentina captain, his favourite player. A champion in his own right, Nathan Elangovan has reached the top by sheer dint of merit and hard work. After turning up impressive displays for a number of seasons, Elangovan guided his team of Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) to its maiden super division football title.
A resolute defender who is as good on the ground as he is in the air with his timely interceptions and effective clearances, Elangovan also has the intelligence to build up attacks from the deep. He is not prone to wild clearances unless the situation so demands.
Elangovan turned up for Thamarai Kannan FC and HAL as well before ADE snapped him up. He has been doing a splendid job for them as they reign supreme in DRDO soccer and are now a force to reckon with in the local circuit. ADE, which produced superb footballers like Dakshinamurthy and Gnanaprakash, now has this well-built stopper to bank on.
Elangovan has played for state teams in various age groups and also the senior team in the Santosh Trophy. An avid football fan, he watches World Cup games to learn new techniques. “Every World Cup or European soccer match enables us to learn some techniques to improvise our approach towards the game. I learn a lot by watching these games,” said Elangovan.
“I was born and brought up in Periyar Nagar which has produced some outstanding footballers like Arivazhagan (HAL), Saravanan, (ITI), Raju (HAL) and Dhandapani (CIL). Naturally, I was inspired a lot by them,” said Elangovan, whose father Nathan also played for KSRTC FC and Ambedkar FC.
“In 1992-93, I signed up for the 515 Army Base Workshop and trained under Sagayaraj. Later, I was fortunate to play under the likes of Krishnaji Rao, Amjad Khan and A D Nagendra in various club and state teams and they shaped my career to a large extent,” Elangovan added.
“After we won the South Zone tournament with the state team, I signed up for ADE with Dakshinamurthy, Sunil Kumar, Ashok Kumar and Gnanaprakash. Coach Manivannan has helped me a great deal, as he was a reputed stopper back himself. I also owe a lot to my brother Shankar and my wife Savitha for their unstinted support. Without them, it might not have been possible for me to have achieved what I have. My ambition is to don national colours and I hope to achieve it soon,” Elangovan concluded.
