Brandon Fernandes

Brandon Fernandes (born 20 September 1994) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for both FC Goa and the Indian national team.

Brandon Fernandes
Fernandes in training with FC Goa
Personal information
Full name Brandon Fernandes
Date of birth (1994-09-20) 20 September 1994[1]
Place of birth Margao, Goa, India
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Goa
Number 10
Youth career
2002–2007[2] Fransa-Pax
Velsao Pale Sports Club
Goa United Football Association
Salgaocar
2010–2013 ASD Cape Town
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015 Sporting Goa 9 (3)
2015–2017 Mumbai City 2 (0)
2016 → Mohun Bagan (loan) 4 (1)
2017 Churchill Brothers 15 (3)
2017– Goa 62 (5)
National team‡
2008 India U14
2009 India U17
2011 India U19 3 (1)
2019– India 7 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13:32, 17 December 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 6 January 2020

Career

Early career

Born in Margao, Goa, Fernandes started playing competitive football at age six when his parents got him into the youth set-up at Fransa-Pax.[3] After Fransa-Pax disbanded, he moved to the youth set-up at Velsao Pale Sports Club where he played for the club's under-14 side as an eight year old.[3] After spending time with Velsao Pale, Fernandes moved to the Goa United Football Academy before being signed by Salgaocar to join their under-14 side.[3] During his time at Salgaocar, he represented the team at the under-14, under-16, and under-19 levels.[3]

After impressive performances for both Salgaocar and the India under-20 side, Brandon was enrolled into the ASD Football Academy in Cape Town, South Africa.[3] While with ASD, Fernandes attracted many scouts from around Europe resulting in trials from three English clubs, Leicester City, Reading, and Sunderland,[4] but could not earn a contract at any of those clubs. Fernandes also played for the ASD Cape Town team in the SAFA Second Division, the third-tier of South African football, where he managed to score 12 goals from 12 matches, 4 of which were free-kicks.[4]

Before playing in the Lusophony Games in 2014, Fernandes was supposed to go on trial with AS Monaco but the trials never materialized.[1] After impressing for Goa during the 2014 Lusophony Games, he rejected offers from seven different I-League clubs, stating that he would like to wait for an offer from a European club.[1]

Sporting Goa

A year after his contract with ASD Cape Town expired, and after saying in the past that he would not play in the I-League, Fernandes returned to India to sign for Sporting Goa.[5] He made his professional debut for the club on 8 February 2015 against Mumbai at the Cooperage Ground, starting the match and playing 23 minutes before being substituted off due to an injury as Sporting Goa drew the match 0–0.[6] he returned from injury to make his second appearance for Sporting Goa against Royal Wahingdoh, coming on as a 68th-minute substitute for Anthony Wolfe, and was booked as Sporting drew 0–0.[7] Brandon scored his first senior professional goal against Salgaocar on 19 April 2015 in a 2–0 win for Sporting Goa[8]

Fernandes then put in a man of the match performance over Bharat on 2 May 2015. Pressuring the Bharat defense throughout his 88 minutes on the pitch, he scored from a free-kick in the 42nd minute to help Sporting Goa win 2–0, their second victory of the season entering the final month of the campaign.[9] After the match, Fernandes was praised by Sporting Goa head coach, Mateus Costa, when he said that "Since Brandon joined our squad, things have really changed. He is very good on the wing and we were lacking that kind of a player. He is also a free-kick specialist and the goal that he scored today was beautiful".[10]

Fernandes then scored another well struck goal on 20 May 2015 against Shillong Lajong. Pouncing on a mistake by Shillong Lajong goalkeeper, Rehenesh TP, in which the keeper miss kicked his clearance, Brandon slotted the ball into the net from more than 30 yards out. Sporting Goa went on to win 2–1.[11] He assisted Sandesh Jhingan in the final round of the season, from a corner, in an eventual 4–0 win for his team, thus helping confirming the status of his team in the top flight for the next I-League season.[12]

Mumbai City

Brandon was picked up in the 2015 Indian Super League draft by Mumbai City during the first round for Rs. 12 lakhs.[13][14] Having missed the first 7 rounds of the 2015 Indian Super League season through injury, Brandon made his debut against Delhi Dynamos in round 8, coming on as a substitute in a 1–1 draw for his team.[15] On his first start for Mumbai City, which was his second appearance of the season, Brandon was injured and ruled out of the season.[16]

Mohun Bagan (loan)

On 6 January 2016 it was announced that Brandon has signed for reigning I-League champions Mohun Bagan on loan from Mumbai City.[17] He made his debut for Mohun Bagan on 30 January 2016 against DSK Shivajians. He played 60 minutes as Mohun Bagan won the match 2–0.[18] He scored his first goal for the club a month later on 1 March against Sporting Goa. His strike came in the 28th minute but Fernandes had to be taken off the pitch four minutes later due to a knee injury.[19] It was later revealed that Fernandes would most likely require surgery on his knee.[20]

Churchill Brothers

Brandon signed for the newly re-instated I-League club Churchill Brothers for the 2016-17 I-League season.[21] After missing out on large portions of the previous two years through injury, Brandon would have a very active season as he appeared 15 times in the league for Churchill where he would score 3 goals and would finish as the highest provider of assists with 7 assists.[21] The high point of his season would be the game against Chennai City where he would assist 4 times and score once in a 6–1 win for his team.[22] He would also play in the Federation Cup but could not help his team qualify for the semi-finals.

Goa

Fernandes was drafted in by Goa for the 2017–18 Indian Super League season at a cost of ₹2,750,000.[23] He would play 15 times for his club and provide 4 assists during the season in the league, and score twice in the Super Cup as Goa was eliminated by East Bengal in the cup competition. On 24 January 2018, he signed a new contract with Goa, keeping him at the club until 2020.[24]

During the 2018–19 season, Brandon was an integral part of the Sergio Lobera's system, playing primarily on the left side of midfield as his team finished second the league on head-to-head ruling. Goa would be defeated in the play-off final by Bengaluru as he ended the season with 3 goals and 4 assists. He was also part of Goa's 2019 Super Cup winning team, where he scored thrice in the competition, including the final.[25]

Fernandes continued with Goa for the 2019–20 season, primarily on the left side of midfield as Hugo Boumous moved to the attacking midfielder role to play behind Coro. He would score twice and assist 7 times in 17 appearances in the season, finishing as the highest assisting Indian player in the league once again.

International

While playing for Velsao Pale, Fernandes was selected to join the India U14 side during the AFC U-14 Football Festival in 2007.[3] He then went on to captain the India U17 which won the Coca-Cola Celebration Cup in 2010.[3] Fernandes also scored in his first ever match for the India U20 team on 31 October 2011 against Turkmenistan during the 2012 AFC U-19 Championship qualifiers.[26] Brandon is widely regarded as the best midfielders in India. He has played for India at all levels except the senior team. Many fans criticised the decision of the coach to snub the likes of Brandon Fernandez, Rahul Bheke, Sosairaj, Mandar, Adil who have been performing well for the last 2–3 seasons for the AFC Asian Cup 2019.

In 2014, Fernandes represented his home state, Goa-India, during the 2014 Lusophony Games.[27] He played in the final of the tournament, assisting twice and scoring once from the penalty spot, as Goa beat the under-20 team of Mozambique to become the champions at the Lusophony Games.[28] Brandon played 4 times, and scored thrice during the Lusophony games.[29][30][31][32]

Career statistics
As of 27 March 2020[33]
Club Season League Federation Cup/Super Cup AFC Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Sporting Goa 2014–15 I-League93000093
Mumbai City 2015 Indian Super League20————20
Mohun Bagan (loan) 2015–16 I-League41000041
Churchill Brothers 2016–17 1533100184
Goa 2017–18 Indian Super League15022——172
2018–19 18343——226
2019–20 17200——172
Career total 801296008918

Honours

FC Goa
2019[34]
Champions (1): 2019–20

International
Goa

Individual
Youth
  • Manchester United Premier Cup "Best Player of the Tournament": 2008[35]

References
  1. Fernandes, Andrea (5 April 2014). "Europe's the first choice". The Goan. Archived from the original on 9 February 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  2. Mitra, Atanu (27 May 2015). "randon Fernandes ready to make his mark in Indian football". Goal.com.
  3. Deb, Debapriya (4 August 2011). "Indian Football: Profiling The Future – Brandon Fernandes". The Hard Tackle. Archived from the original on 8 February 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  4. Vasavda, Mihir. "Sunderland trial for rising star Brandon Fernandes". Indian Express. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  5. "Brandon Fernandes signs for Sporting Clube de Goa". Sporting Clube de Goa. Archived from the original on 8 February 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  6. "Mumbai 0-0 Sporting Goa". Soccerway. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  7. "Sporting Goa 0-0 Royal Wahingdoh". Soccerway.
  8. "Salgaocar v Sporting Goa Live Commentary & Result, 19/04/2015, I-League | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  9. Noronha, Anselm (6 May 2015). "Top and Flop: Sporting Clube de Goa 2-0 Bharat FC". Goal.com. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  10. Noronha, Anselm (4 May 2015). "Costa: Brandon scored a beautiful goal". Goal.com. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  11. Jitendran, Nikhil; Goswami, Nabarun (20 May 2015). "Shillong Lajong 1-2 Sporting Goa: Fernandes and Odafa fire Oranje to victory over Reds". Goal.com. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  12. "Sporting Goa v Pune Live Commentary & Result, 30/05/2015, I-League | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  13. "ISL 2015 Domestic Players Draft: As it happened". 10 July 2015. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  14. Noronha, Anselm (10 July 2015). "Cavin Lobo to Kerala, Keegan Pereira to Mumbai and the comprehensive Indian Super League Draft". Goal.com. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  15. http://www.indiansuperleague.com/matchcentre/2015110613848-delhi-dynamos-fc-vs-mumbai-city-fc
  16. "Mumbai City FC's Brandon Fernandes unlikely to feature again this season". 17 November 2015. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  17. "I-League Update: Mohun Bagan rope in promising midfielder Brandon Fernandes | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  18. "DSK Shivajians 0-2 Mohun Bagan". Soccerway.
  19. "Sporting Goa 1-1 Mohun Bagan". Soccerway.
  20. Bilgi, Sumedh (19 March 2016). "Brandon Fernandes to undergo knee surgery". Goal.com. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  21. "Bleak 2016 behind, Brandon Fernandes finds his groove with Churchill". ESPNFC.com. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  22. "I-League Team of the Week: Round 17 - Aizawl FC take a huge step over Mohun Bagan towards the league title | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  23. "FC Goa's 2017 draft details: Brandon Fernandes, Narayan Das, Pronay Das among signed". Goal. 23 July 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  24. "FC Goa announce Brandon and Ali contract extensions". FC Goa Official Website. Archived from the original on 24 January 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  25. "Bheke's late header earns Bengaluru the Hero ISL 2018-19 crown". Indian Super League Official Website. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  26. "India's U19 Team Starts Off on a Winning Note". Chris PD. 31 October 2011. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  27. Ghoshal, Amoy (16 January 2014). "Lusofonia Games 2014: Brandon Fernandes the star attraction of the football tournament". SportsKeeda. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  28. Noronha, Anselm (29 January 2014). "Goa-India 3-2 Mozambique: Hosts bag the gold medal". Goal.com. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  29. "Lusofonia games: India beat Mozambique in football tie - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  30. "Lusofonia Games: Mozambique beat India to enter football semis - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  31. "Brandon Fernandes takes Goa-India to the Lusofonia Games final » The Blog » CPD Football by Chris Punnakkattu Daniel". The Blog » CPD Football by Chris Punnakkattu Daniel (in German). 26 January 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  32. "Goa-India win the Lusofonia Games football tournament » The Blog » CPD Football by Chris Punnakkattu Daniel". The Blog » CPD Football by Chris Punnakkattu Daniel (in German). 28 January 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  33. Brandon Fernandes at Soccerway
  34. "FC Goa's long wait for a trophy ends". thehindu.com. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  35. "MUPC U 15 ,2009,India Finals". The All India Football Federation. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
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