Jo Paul Ancheri (born 2 August 1976) is an Indian former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who captained the

Indian Football team The India national football team represents India in international Association football, football and is governed by the All India Football Federation (AIFF). The team is affiliated to FIFA and Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Indian tea ...

. He was named the

AIFF Player of the Year The AIFF Player of the Year Awards are the annual association football, football awards presented to the best footballers in India by the All India Football Federation (AIFF). The AIFF first announced the award for Men's Player of the Year in 199 ...

by the

All India Football Federation The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is the national governing body of football in India. It is a member of FIFA, the international governing body of football and affiliated to Asian Football Confederation. It is affiliated to Ministry o ...

in 1994 and 2001. He currently works as a Malayalam commentator and pundit on Star Sports Malayalam with the leading commentator

Shaiju Damodaran Shaiju Damodaran (born 7 February 1973) is an Indian sports commentator, sports journalist and columnist who, as of 2022, is the leading Malayalam commentator for Star network (Malayalam) on their Indian Super League (ISL) coverage. , he has co ...

Club career

Born in

Thrissur Thrissur (), formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the third largest urban agglomeration in Kerala after Kochi and Kozhikode, and t ...

, Kerala, Ancheri began his professional career in 1992 playing for

State Bank of Travancore State Bank of Travancore (SBT) was a major Indian bank headquartered in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, and was a major associate of State Bank of India. SBT was a subsidiary of the State Bank Group, but also had private share-holders. It was ...

. He went on to play for many leading football clubs including

Mohun Bagan Mohun Bagan Athletic Club is an Indian professional sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, its football section is one of the oldest in India and Asia. The club is most notable for its victory over East Yorkshire Regiment ...

, JCT Football Club,

FC Kochin Football Club Kochin was an Indian association football club based in Kochi, Kerala. In the 1990s, it was the only football club from Kerala to play in the National Football League, then top tier of Indian football league system. FC Kochin play ...

, and

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East ...

. He was a versatile player who could play in any position including defender,

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, and striker. With JCT Mills Phagwara, he won the 1996–97 National Football League.

International career

Ancheri made his senior international debut for India against

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

on 14 September 1994 in a 4–2 win, when he scored a goal. Ancheri was also a member of the Indian team for the Nehru Gold Cup in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

, and of the under-23 side, which took part in the pre-Olympic tournament. He later suffered a knee injury for the rest of the season and came back with the colours of

in 1997. Ancheri played in a number of tournaments such as

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

World Cup qualifiers, the

SAFF Championship The South Asian Football Federation Championship, commonly known as SAFF Championship (previously known as ''South Asian Association of Regional Co-operation Gold Cup'' and ''South Asian Football Federation Gold Cup''), is the main international ...

, and the

South Asian Games The South Asian Games (SAG or SA Games), formerly known as the South Asian Federation Games (SAFG or SAF Games), is a quadrennial multi-sport event held among the athletes from South Asia. The governing body of these games is South Asia Olympic C ...

, and helped the team win the

South Asian Football Federation Cup The South Asian Football Federation Championship, commonly known as SAFF Championship (previously known as ''South Asian Association of Regional Co-operation Gold Cup'' and ''South Asian Football Federation Gold Cup''), is the main international ...

in 1999. He was part of the Syed Naeemuddin-managed Indian team that participated in the

1998 Asian Games The 1998 Asian Games (), officially known as the 13th Asian Games and the XIII Asiad, was an Asian multi-sport event celebrated in Bangkok, Thailand from December 6 to 20, 1998, with 377 events in 36 sports and disciplines participated by 6,554 ...

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

and reached the second round. With India, he appeared in the 2002 World Cup Qualifiers, when India defeated teams like United Arab Emirates, Brunei and Yemen. India secured 11 points from 6 matches, the same as Yemen, but finished behind them due to an inferior goal difference. In that year, Ancheri was part of the

Bhaichung Bhutia Bhaichung Bhutia (born 15 December 1976), also spelled as Baichung Bhutia, is an Indian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Bhutia is considered as the torchbearer of Indian football in the international arena. He is often ...

-led Indian team that won the LG Cup, defeating the host nation

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

3–2. He later appeared in the

2003 Afro-Asian Games The 2003 Afro-Asian Games, officially known as the First Afro-Asian Games or I Afro-Asian Games and unofficially known as the Inaugural Afro-Asian Games, was a major international multi-sport sporting event, event held in Hyderabad, India, from ...

, when India finished as runners-up behind Uzbekistan.

International goals

Honours

JCT Mills *

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

: 1996–97 *

Indian Federation Cup The Federation Cup (also known as Hero Federation Cup for sponsorship reasons) was an annual knockout football competition in Indian football which started in 1977. From its inception, until I-League was started in 1997 (then called NFL), it ...

: 1996 *

Durand Cup The Durand Football Tournament, commonly known as Durand Cup, is an annual domestic football competition in India which was first held in 1888 in Shimla. Hosted by the Durand Football Tournament Society (DFTS) and All India Football Federation ...

: 1996 FC Kochin *

: 1997 *

IFA Shield The IFA Shield is an annual football competition organized by the Indian Football Association. The IFA is the governing body of football in the state of West Bengal, came into existence in 1893. Named after the association, the IFA Shield tourn ...

: runner-up 1997 * Kerala State Championship: 1997 Mohun Bagan *

: 1998 *

: 1998, 1999 East Bengal * IFA Shield: 2001 * Durand Cup: 2001, 2002 India *

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

; runner-up:

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

; third place:

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

Gold medal:

; Bronze medal:

Afro-Asian Games The Afro-Asian Games were the series of inter-continental multi-sport competitions, held between athletes from Asia and Africa. These Games are one-of-a-kind, since no other sporting competition brings athletes from these two continents together ...

silver medal:

India U-23 * LG Cup: 2002 Individual *

: 1994, 2001

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

Jo Paul Ancheri
at Soccerway
Biography
at indianhotdeal.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ancheri, Jo Paul Living people 1975 births Indian men's footballers India men's international footballers India men's youth international footballers Malayali people Footballers from Thrissur East Bengal Club players Sree Kerala Varma College alumni Footballers at the 1998 Asian Games Footballers at the 2002 Asian Games Men's association football utility players Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Men's association football forwards Asian Games competitors for India Association football commentators Indian sports broadcasters South Asian Games medalists in football South Asian Games gold medalists for India South Asian Games bronze medalists for India