And in the Paris Olympics quarterfinals against Great Britain on Sunday, it all boiled down to Sreejesh once again when the match was locked at 1-1 after the regulation time followed by the shoot-out.
As always, The Wall of India, as he is fondly known as, brought out his best and stole the limelight in the shoot-out as well, blocking Phillip Ropper effort after the score was 2-2.
Sreejesh’s emotions overflowed as he made the crucial save. Unable to contain his joy, he celebrated in a comical fashion, jumping up and down while seated on the turf.
India pulled off a nail-biting 4-2 win in the shoot-out against Great Britain.
“(It is a) daily job of a goalie. Some days it’s a different effort (but) today is our day. Even in the shootout, the guys who took shots didn’t disappoint,” he told the broadcaster after India’s stunning win.
“They scored and that gave me enough confidence,” the Indian goalkeeper said.
Sreejesh described it as a “do-or-die” situation, saying he was fully prepared to take the game head-on.
“When I stepped on this field today, there were two options for me. This can be my last match, or I got an opportunity for two more matches and I think, yeah, I got two more matches now,” he said.
Sreejesh said that Tokyo Olympics bronze medallists India will focus on their game in the semifinals.
“See, whoever comes in the semis, we (will) just play our game. That’s it, that’s important, because now it’s a different game, because we are one man down and we need to focus on that now,” he said.