Mahesh Gawli (born 23 January 1980) is an

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n football coach and former footballer who played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

and represented

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

on 68 occasions between 2000 and 2011.

Club career

Gawli was born in

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

and began playing football at 8. Gawli’s talent was immediately spotted by the coaches at all age groups. He was a member of the Goa U-12 team that lost against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

U-12 in 1991–92. He then joined the famed

Tata Football Academy Tata Football Academy (Tata FA or TFA) is an association football academy situated in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, India, sponsored by Tata Steel, which owns ISL outfit Jamshedpur FC. It is one of the renowned football academies in India. History ...

. Gawli started his career at

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 ...

where he joined in 1998 after graduating from

and won the

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

League with them before moving on to

Churchill Brothers Churchill Brothers FC Goa, or simply known as Churchill Brothers, is an Indian professional football club based in Margao, Goa, that competes in the I-League, alongside Goa Professional League. Founded in 1988 in Margao, the club usually part ...

. He stayed there at Churchill for three consecutive seasons from 2000–2002 and won the

Goa Professional League The Goa Professional League (abbreviated as GPL, also known as the Selvel Goa Pro League for sponsorship reasons) is the premier state-level football league in Goa, India. It is organised by the Goa Football Association. History The official l ...

thrice with them. He also helped them secure the Runners-up medals in the 2001–02 season of

National Football League (India) The National Football League (NFL) was a league competition featuring football clubs from India. Founded in 1996 through the All India Football Federation (AIFF), the NFL was the first football league in India to be organized on a national scal ...

before moving on to

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

biggies

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 ...

. Gawli first tasted the National League success in 2003–04 season after moving into the East Bengal. He was also a member of the East Bengal team that won the prestigious 2003 ASEAN Club Championship in where he also scored a goal against

Philippine Army F.C. The Philippine Army Football Club is an association football club based in the Philippines. It was founded in 1960 through the effort of the Philippine Army Special Services Unit. A unit that promotes sports and physical fitness within the Army ...

East Bengal completed a treble that season by winning the

League crown as well. After a successful three-year stint with the East Bengal, it was time for Mahesh to find his place in

Mahindra United Mahindra United Football Club (formerly known as Mahindra & Mahindra) was an Indian professional football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Founded in 1962, the club competed in the I-League, then top tier of Indian football league system, befo ...

team. It was under Mahindra Coach David Booth that Gawli displayed his finest brand of football. He helped Mahindra win the NFL,

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 ...

Mumbai Football League The Mumbai Football League, also known as the Harwood League, is organised by Mumbai Football Association (MFA) as a ladder-based competition involving a total of five divisions and over 300 teams. It is the top football league in Mumbai and ...

and the

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 ...

and was part of the team that participated in the 2007 AFC Cup and went on to reach the last eight stage. Gawli won the best defender award in the 10th NFL for his stellar performances in Mahindra United colors. Then it was like a homecoming for Mahesh as he moved from Mahindra to Dempo S.C. in 2007 and has become a pillar of strength in Dempo’s defense. Gawli has won two

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the w ...

titles with Dempo and is a regular starter for the club and forms a formidable partnership with another India international Samir Naik. He helped Dempo reach the semi-finals of

2008 AFC Cup The 2008 AFC Cup was the fifth edition of the AFC Cup, playing between clubs from nations who are members of the Asian Football Confederation. Qualified teams 20 clubs will be competing, including champions of the national leagues and champio ...

and the pre-quarters in 2011 AFC Cup.

International career

He represented India in the

AFC U-16 Championship The AFC U-17 Asian Cup, formerly known as the AFC U-16 Championship and AFC U-17 Championship, is a football competition, organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) held once every two years for Asian under-17 teams that also serves as a q ...

in 1996 held in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

and was included in the Asian All Star U-16 team. Gawli soon made his international debut in the pre-Olympic qualifier against

in 1999 and cemented his place in the Indian team. Mahesh has been representing

since 2001. With India, he won the LG Cup and several SAFF Cups. He was part of the historical

Nehru Cup The Nehru Cup was an international association football tournament organised by the All India Football Federation (AIFF), named after the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru. It was launched in 1982, but was not held from 1998 to ...

2007 win in which he was the man of the match in the final against

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. He was also an important part of the victorious India team at the

2008 AFC Challenge Cup The 2008 AFC Challenge Cup football tournament was organised by AFC and was hosted by India.The tournament was played from 30 July – 13 August 2008. India won the final against Tajikistan. India was also the winner of the fair play award and ...

. He announced his retirement on 26 December 2011, almost 2 weeks after winning the

2011 SAFF Championship The 2011 South Asian Football Federation Championship, sponsored by Karbonn Mobiles and officially named Karbonn SAFF Championship 2011, was the 9th tournament of the SAFF Championship, which held in New Delhi, India. Venue It was originally sc ...

with India.

International statistics

International goals

Honours

East Bengal *

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 ...

(1): 2003-04 *

ASEAN Club Championship The ASEAN Club Championship or ACC is an international club football competition organised by the ASEAN Football Federation between domestic champion clubs. The competition is backed by AFC and FIFA. The first edition was sponsored by LG Electron ...

(1):

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 ...

Mahindra United *

(1): 2005 *

Federation Cup Federation Cup or Fed Cup is the former name of the premier world team competition in women's tennis. Federation Cup may also refer to: * Capital Football Federation Cup, an Australian territory-based association football tournament *Federation Cup ...

(1): 2005 *

(1): 2006 Dempo S.C. *

(3): 2007-08 I-League, 2009-10 I-League, 2011-12 I-League * Super Cup (1): 2008 India *

AFC Challenge Cup The AFC Challenge Cup was an international football competition for Asian Football Confederation (AFC) member countries that was categorized as "emerging countries" in the "Vision Asia" programme. "Vision Asia", created by former AFC president, ...

(1):

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

* SAFF Cup (2):

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 ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

; runner-up:

(2):

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

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 ...

Bronze medal:

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 ...

India U23 * LG Cup: 2002 Individual *Best defender of the I-league: 2004-05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2011–12 *2007 ONGC Nehru Cup Final: Man Of the Match *Dilip Sardesai Sports Excellence Award: 2008

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gawli, Mahesh Living people 1980 births Indian footballers Footballers from Goa India international footballers India youth international footballers FC Kochin players Churchill Brothers FC Goa players Dempo SC players East Bengal Club players 2011 AFC Asian Cup players I-League players Mahindra United FC players Association football central defenders Footballers at the 2002 Asian Games Asian Games competitors for India South Asian Games medalists in football South Asian Games bronze medalists for India