Mandar Rao Dessai (born 18 March 1992) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a left-back and winger for Indian Super League side Mumbai City and the India national team. Mandar holds the record for most appearances in the history of Indian Super League.

Career

Dempo

Desai made his professional debut for Dempo in the 2013-14 I-League on 22 September 2013 against

Shillong Lajong Shillong Lajong FC (founded as Lajong SC) is an Indian professional football club based in Shillong, Meghalaya, that competes in the Shillong Premier League. The club was established in 1983 with the prime objective of improving the declining st ...

at the Duler Stadium and played the match till 55th minute before he was replaced by

Jeje Lalpekhlua Jeje Lalpekhlua Fanai (born 7 January 1991) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a striker, and last appeared with Indian Super League club East Bengal. Between 2011 and 2019, he scored 23 goals in 56 international matches repres ...

as his team lost the match 0–3.

Goa (loan)

Mandar represented Goa in the

2014 Indian Super League The 2014 Hero Indian Super League was the first season of the Indian Super League, the top flight football league of India. The season featured eight teams, each playing 14 matches during the regular season. The regular season started on 12 Oct ...

, on loan from Dempo, and was a regular for his team on the left wing.

Return to Dempo

After the

2014 ISL The 2014 Hero Indian Super League was the first season of the Indian Super League, the top flight football league of India. The season featured eight teams, each playing 14 matches during the regular season. The regular season started on 12 Oct ...

, Mandar returned to his senior club and started the new season in the 2014-15 Indian Federation Cup, where he played in 5 of his teams' cup-winning campaign, assisting Tolgay Ozbey once in a group game. While he was regular for Dempo during the 2014-15 I-League, he could not prevent his team from getting relegated. He made 14 appearances, with only 5 starts in the league.

Goa (loan)

Mandar was retained by Goa for the

2015 Indian Super League The 2015 Hero Indian Super League was the second season of the Indian Super League, a professional football league played in India since 2014. The season features eight teams. The regular season kicked off on 3 October and ended on 6 December, w ...

with Zico impressed by him from the 2014 season. He started and scored in the first game of the season against Roberto Carlos lead northern outfit

Delhi Dynamos Odisha Football Club () is an Indian professional football club based in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. Prior to the inaugural Indian Super League season, the club was found ...

from a Romeo Fernandes assist as his team won 2–0. He scored again in a round 4 game away at Guwahati against NorthEast United after coming on as a substitute, from a swift counterattack, showing his impressive pace. Mandar then turned in his first assist of the season at home against Kerala Blasters from a corner, assisting Gregory Arnolin with a goal that turned out be the winner. He won Hero of the Match awards for his performances against

and Pune City in

. Mandar scored his 3rd goal of the season against Kerala Blasters in a 1–5 win at Kochi on 29 November 2015, where he also assisted Reinaldo for the 3rd goal.

Return to Dempo

After contractual problems, Mandar returned to play for Dempo, where he had a contract until the end of the 2015–16 season where he helped his team win promotion back to the I-League.

Goa

Desai signed a permanent deal with Goa from the

2016 Indian Super League season The 2016 Indian Super League season was the third season of the Indian Super League, the football league, since its establishment in 2013. The season featured eight teams again, each playing 14 matches during the regular season before the final ...

. He later went to Spain for a short training cum trial stint with La Liga side Villarreal CF.

Mumbai City

In 2020, Dessai moved to Mumbai City and emerged champions of the 2020–21 season. He was later included in club's

2022 AFC Champions League The 2022 AFC Champions League is the 41st edition of Asia's premier club association football, football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 20th under the current AFC Champions League title. This season is offi ...

squad.

International

Mandar captained Goa-India during the

2014 Lusophony Games The 2014 Lusophone Games was the 3rd edition of the Lusophone Games, a multi-sport event that represent athletes from Portuguese-speaking countries and territories. It was held from 18 to 29 January 2014 in the Indian state of Goa. Brazil and Sri ...

where he made 4 appearances and scored once, as he led his team to the gold medal, beating the under-20 team of Mozambique in the final. Mandar made his India U23 debut in the

2014 Asian Games The 2014 Asian Games ( ko, 2014년 아시아 경기대회/2014년 아시안 게임, Icheon sip-sa nyeon Asia gyeonggi daehoe/Icheon sip-sa nyeon Asian Geim), officially known as the 17th Asian Games ( ko, 제17회 아시아 경기대회/제17회 ...

against UAE U23.

Personal life

Mandar was in a relationship with Cecilie Bjørnstrup Andersen, an amateur Danish footballer, since 2018. They have a daughter namely Aya. The couple separated in 2021.

Career statistics

International

Honours

Dempo * I-League 2nd Division: 2015–16 * Goa * ISL League Winners Shield: 2019–20 *

Super Cup A super cup is a competition, usually but not exclusively in association football, which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competitions during the prev ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

* Mumbai City * Indian Super League:

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

* ISL League Winners Shield:

India *

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 ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

* Lusophony Games:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Goa-India win the Lusofonia Games football tournament
''blog.cpdfootball.de''. Retrieved 7 September 2021.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Desai, Mandar Rao 1992 births Living people People from Mapusa Indian footballers Dempo SC players Footballers from Goa I-League players Footballers at the 2014 Asian Games India youth international footballers Association football wingers Bengaluru FC players Indian Super League players FC Goa players Mumbai City FC players Asian Games competitors for India India international footballers