Oftense Nato

Oftense Nato

This fiesty medio from Bostwana will turn 27 on 1st October. Back in 2014, he was one of the youngest foreign recruits in ISL. And when he took to the pitch, he immediately became an indispensable part of the ATK midfield, disrupting the opponents' attacking maneuvres and acting as a cushion for the defenders.

Having started his career at Gaborone United of the Bostwanaian top division, Nato played in South Africa for a while (Bidvest Wits, Capte Town) before joining ATK. He also earned 34 international caps. In the first edition of ISL started in 16 matches, playing a crucial role en route to them becoming the champions of inaugural ISL. His aggressive style of play - not shy of going for risky challenges - earned him something of a henchman's reputation in addition to a number of yellow cards (resulting in a one match suspension). His unabashed on-field bravado drew comparisons with East Bengal club legend Mehtab Hossain and always made opponent attackers nervous. His successful streak continued in ISL 2015 as well. 

All signs suggest that in Nato ATK have found a defensive midfielder for the long term and the player also seems to have grown fond of the franchise. It would, however, have helped further if the ATK management could find loan deals for him for the rest of the season; he is at an age where more maturity as a player is still attainable and he needs to be active for the entire season for that. But hopefully, from 2017-18 all that will change and Nato will commit to a long term stint with ATK.