Suhair Vadakkepeedika (born 27 July 1992), commonly known as VP Suhair, is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Indian Super League club East Bengal.
 Suhair with NorthEast United in 2021 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Suhair Vadakkepeedika | ||
| Date of birth | 27 July 1992 | ||
| Place of birth | Mannarkkad, Kerala, India | ||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | East Bengal | ||
| Number | 20 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2014 | Kerala | ||
| 2015 | United SC | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2016 | United SC | 10 | (5) |
| 2016–2017 | Gokulam Kerala | 7 | (5) |
| 2017–2018 | East Bengal | 5 | (5) |
| 2018–2019 | →Gokulam Kerala(loan) | 18 | (1) |
| 2019–2020 | Mohun Bagan | 16 | (2) |
| 2020–2022 | NorthEast United | 38 | (7) |
| 2022– | East Bengal | 18 | (2) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2022 | India | 2 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19:22, 25 February 2023 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19:30, 23 March 2022 (UTC) | |||
Early life
Suhair was born on 27 July 1992 in Edathanattukara, Palakkad, Kerala. He is a product of United SC. He started his career playing for Calicut University and local clubs in Kerala. He also represented the Kerala football team in the National Games and the Santosh Trophy. Later he joined Kolkata outfit United SC and played in the Calcutta Football League.[1][2][3]
Club career
I-League clubs
East Bengal signed him in December 2016.[4] He scored a hat-trick in his first match against Rainbow AC.[5][6] He suffered an ankle injury on the eve of East Bengal's season opener against Shillong.[7] He ended the season without playing a single match and finally the club released him. Later, he joined Gokulam Kerala in March 2018.[8]
On 3 June 2019, Suhair joined Mohun Bagan.[9]
NorthEast United
On 30 September 2020, Suhair penned down a two–year deal with NorthEast United.[10] Suhair scored 3 goals in 19 appearances for the Highlanders in 2020–21 Indian Super League season.
On 20 November 2021, Suhair scored his first goal in 2021–22 Season in a 1–2 lost against Chennaiyin. He scored his second goal of the season against SC East Bengal. On 21 December 2021, he opened the scoring just 1 min 42 seconds into the match, the fastest goal in NorthEast United history.[11] In the end of the 2021–22 season Suhair scored four goals and provides two assists for the Highlanders.
International career
In March 2022, Suhair was called up for the national squad by coach Igor Štimac ahead of India's two friendly matches against Bahrain and Belarus.[12][13]
Career statistics
Club
- As of 25 February 2023[14]
| Club | Season | League | State league | Cup | Others | AFC | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| United SC | 2016 | Calcutta Football League | – | 10 | 5 | – | – | – | 10 | 5 | ||||
| Gokulam Kerala | 2016–17 | I-League | 7 | 5 | – | – | – | – | 7 | 5 | ||||
| East Bengal | 2017–18 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | – | – | – | 5 | 5 | ||||
| Gokulam Kerala (loan) | 2018–19 | 18 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 18 | 1 | |||||
| Mohun Bagan | 2019–20 | 16 | 2 | 11 | 3 | 5[a] | 2 | 4[b] | 1 | – | 36 | 8 | ||
| NorthEast United | 2020–21 | Indian Super League | 19 | 3 | – | – | – | – | 19 | 3 | ||||
| 2021–22 | 19 | 4 | – | – | – | – | 19 | 4 | ||||||
| Total | 38 | 7 | – | – | – | – | 38 | 7 | ||||||
| East Bengal | 2022–23 | Indian Super League | 18 | 2 | – | 2[a] | 0 | – | – | 20 | 2 | |||
| Career total | 97 | 17 | 26 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 134 | 34 | ||
References
External links
- Suhair Vadakkepeedika at Soccerway
- Suhair Vadakkepeedika at Global Sports Archive