Manprit: The Best PIO Footballer In The World Now?

WFY Bureau | Sports

Manprit Sarkaria is on a high these days. The 28-year-old footballer of Indian origin has been shortlisted to play for the Austrian team that played in the European Championships and has had quite a rocky start to his career. Hailing from Amritsar, his parents had emigrated to Vienna has perfected himself as a free-kick exponent so much that he was shortlisted for the Austria national team for the European qualifiers. This is a feat which no other person of Indian origin (PIO) has ever achieved before. Though Manprit is yet to make his debut in the Austrian jersey, there are many who feel that it’s just a matter of time before he does it.

Manprit is also known for the ‘killer free kicks which often leave the opposition and goalkeeper clueless. Time and again he has shown the deadly curve and depth which seem to find the net with uncanny regularity.

His exploits at the highest echelons of Austrian club football are all too well known. Manprit, whose father Harjinder was reared in Amritsar, was very sure about one thing—that he would take his family and settle somewhere in Europe. Unlike the other Punjabis, whose sole aim was to settle down in Canada or the US, Harjinder opted for Austria, as he had heard it was a very beautiful and nice place.

Manprit’s early childhood was spent in the quiet Viennese suburb of Reinstarch. Like all youngsters of his age, he took to football and tennis. He was moderately good in both, and when he turned 10, he was more inclined towards soccer. “I don’t know how to term it—but the inclination towards football was gaining momentum. I cannot quite ascribe any reason for this, but there was this extreme

Another major factor which sealed Manprit’s love for football was that he happened to watch the 2004 Euro Championships final between Greece and Portugal. In that match, underdogs Greece upset the overwhelming favourite Portugal 1-0 to be crowned Euro champions for the first time ever. That win left an indelible mark in Manprit’s love for the game. He was determined to become a full-time football player. “From that day onwards, I was quite determined and focused to become a full-time football player.  

He was also fascinated a great deal by the Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo. “I just about liked everything about him – from the manner in which he dribbled, his fearless approach and the manner in which he played overall. After Portugal’s shocking loss in the final, he just wept and kept on weeping. I found the whole thing so appealing and enthralling. It was at that moment that I wanted to throw myself full-time into football,“ said Manprit.

Once he made it through the junior ranks, Manprit was quick enough to make the transition to the senior ranks. He soon emerged as one of Austria’s top young talents and got a lot of offers from various Austrian clubs. All of them knew his prodigious talent and were vying for his entry into the clubs. Manprit first joined Austria Wien, a first division club, in 2021. After spending nearly a year there, he made the move of his life— when he moved over to top club Sturm Graz.  

Graz draughted him as a substitute. This move marked the coming of age of Manprit, who now got the opportunity to train and practice with the best of Austrian football players. “Once I had been draughted into Strum, that opened the doors of top-flight football to me. While previously I was working out with normal club-level players, the players at Strum were in a different league altogether. Some of them were already playing in the Austrian national team, and just getting to share the practice sessions and locker rooms with them was a great learning curve. I will credit the move to Strum for making me what I am today,” he added.

It was at Strum that Manprit perfected the art of scoring with free kicks. Apart from his good sense of marking rival players, Manprit also realised that he had to have a unique USP of his own. It’s this realisation that led him to work hard and develop the highly tough and demanding art of perfecting free kicks. He would end up practising sets of 100 kicks each in every training session and soon perfected the tough and arduous free kicks. In fact, he became such a big expert that the media dubbed him the “Ronaldo-like free-kicking machine”.

Incidentally, it was during his stint with Strum that Manprit achieved his highest honour—winning the Austrian Cup. All through the competition, Manprit was at his best, scoring goals at will, and reserved his best moment for the final. Pitted against FC Schalke, Manprit scored two goals to help Sturm lift the Austrian Cup. “There is no doubt that was a moment I was looking forward to. Helping my team win the Austrian Cup was no doubt the pinnacle of my career,” he said.

Thereafter, Manprit was shortlisted for the Austrian national team for the Euro Qualifiers 2026, where, in five games, he did not get a chance to play. But he knows it’s just a matter of time before he gets to don the turf in the Austrian colours. Till then, Manprit is keen to showcase his wares on the European club level.

By Saji Chacko