Shaan Hundal, born on 14th July 1999 began playing football (soccer) at the tender age of six for Caledon Soccer Club, of Ontario, Canada.
Having come from the ranks of Toronto FC and Valour FC, Shaan thinks his biggest achievement so far is “Signing my first professional contract at the age of 16 and continuously building and learning to better my game. I’m happy that after my first contract I achieved two more but now the next step is to get to the first team and I will work hard to get to that goal.”
When asked about his decision to join Fort Lauderdale CF, a franchise owned by ex-Manchester United and Real Madrid icon David Beckham, the Canadian youngster said “From the moment I heard of the new team I wanted to go there because it is a beautiful city, ownership and top quality players that have joined the organization. It’s an honor to have been able to sign here and possibly learn from players such as Higuain, Matuidi, and Pizarro.”
Shaan Hundal, who started his senior career in 2016, has already made more than 90 appearances and had a few clubs starting to keep tabs on the young Canadians development. When asked what other options he was considering if not for Fort Lauderdale CF, he said “Potentially somewhere else in the USL, CPL. There was also a brief talk with some people in India trying to get around the international foreign player rule for me.”
While discussing his ambitions with the Florida club, and what he could potentially bring into the team, he said “My role will be to score and help the team win games and create a positive winning mentality. With the experience I have on such a young team I will also look to lead a lot of the young players of the second team in the right direction on and off the field.”
Also Read: Eelco Schattorie – More important to increase the number of games than reducing foreigners
Shaan is always looking to improve himself, but more importantly, he feels strongly about contributing to the betterment of the team. He is well aware that there is plenty of room for improvement for the Fort Lauderdale CF after finishing in 10th place last season, and he thinks the “Most important goal is for us to is play like men. I know we have a very young team, but with the quality and potential we have, we can win the league. So the most important thing is playing like men and carrying ourselves like real professionals on and off the field and getting our individual jobs done so we can get the job done as a team.”
Fort Lauderdale CF is the second team (reserve team) to the Major League Soccer (MLS) side, Inter Miami CF, and was established on the 1st of February 2020. Being a newly formed team, there are quite a lot of opportunities for young players from different parts of the world, when asked what he thinks of this, the forward concurred “This gives me a lot of opportunities that I would never have imagined for myself when I was a kid. I have a real opportunity to jump to the first team and learn from Gonzalo Higuain, a player who has played at the highest level and plays the same position as me. I have coaches that trust me and believe in me and now it’s all about putting everything I’ve learned on to the field and making the most of it. I’m honored to have the opportunity with such an amazing club.” unibet login
Shaan was born in Brampton, Canada but has roots in India, shows an interest in coming to India “At some point in my career I would love to play in India as it was my parents and grandparents’ birth country. I’m not sure when it will happen. But I would consider it depending on the direction my career is going.” – concluded Shaan
Follow IFTWC via our website, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Telegram pages/channels for all the latest updates on Indian Football and download our app from the play store.