Jo Paul Ancheri (born 2 August 1976) is an Indian former professional football 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 by the All India Football Federation in 1994 and 2001. He currently works as a Malayalam commentator and pundit on Star Sports Malayalam with the leading commentator Shaiju Damodaran.

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. He went on to play for many leading football clubs including Mohun Bagan, 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 boundari ...

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 World Cup qualifiers, the SAFF Championship, 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 ...

, 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 in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in 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 estimated populati ...

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 event held in Hyderabad, India, from 24 October (exc ...

, 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: 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 to ...

: runner-up 1997 * Kerala State Championship: 1997 Mohun Bagan * Indian Federation Cup: 1998 *

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

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 ...

, 1999, 2005; runner-up:

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

; third place: 2003 *

Gold medal:

; Bronze medal: 1999 *

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: 2003 India U-23 * LG Cup: 2002 Individual * AIFF Player of the Year: 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