Joaquim Abranches (born 28 October 1985) is an Indian 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 last played as a winger for

Dempo S.C. Dempo Sports Club, or simply known as Dempo, is an Indian professional football club based in Panjim, Goa, that competes in the Goa Professional League. The club is owned and sponsored by the Dempo Mining Corporation Limited. Popularly known as ...

in 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 ...

Club career

Dempo

Hailing from Verna,

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 ...

, Abranches was only 19 years old when he signed for

For the next three years he was used in the

where he made a name for himself scoring some vital goals. He was one of Dempo’s top scorers in the Goa League and also helped Dempo to two Goa League crowns during that period. The exposure he gained playing in the Goa League helped him develop as a player. His first big break came in the 2009-10 I-League season, the year Dempo became the national champions for a record equaling fourth time. That year saw

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 ...

’s top marksman,

Sunil Chhetri Sunil Chhetri (born 3 August 1984) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains both Indian Super League club Bengaluru and the India national team. Widely regarded as the greatest Indian footballer of all time, h ...

, donning colours for Dempo and initially Abranches had to settle for a place on the bench. But mid-way into the season, a tempting offer from

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and t ...

Wizards, a team from

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

, saw Sunil Chhetri suddenly annul his contract and pack his bags for USA. Left with little options, Armando Colaco started including Abranches in the first eleven on a regular basis. He scored a stunning seven goals that year, deservedly earning a call up to the India U-23 team as well.

East Bengal

In 2013, Joaquim joined the

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 ...

-based

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 ...

. His first competitive match was against Kalighat M.S. in the Calcutta Premier Division 2013, where he scored the 3rd goal for his side from a forward through pass of the Goan veteran

Alvito D'Cunha Alvito Ronaldo Correia D'Cunha (born 12 July 1978, in Sanvordem) is a retired Indian football player. He was a former member of the India national team and represented India in the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. He spent most of his club car ...

. His first appearance in the

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 ...

for East Bengal came against Shillong Lajong on 9 October 2013 as a substitute for

Cavin Lobo Cavin Lobo (born 4 April 1988) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Indian Goa Professional League club Vasco. Career Early career In 2010 Lobo was playing for Sporting Goa who were then in the I-Leag ...

International

Abranches made his debut for

on 21 March 2011 against

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One-China principle stipulated by th ...

coming on in the 70th minute for N.S.Manju. Abranches scored his first goal for India against

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...

on 23 February 2012.

International statistics

International Goals

Honours

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 ...

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 ...

India U23 *

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 ...

Goa *

Santosh Trophy The Santosh Trophy, officially known as Hero Senior Men's National Football Championship due to sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp, is a state-level football competition contested by the state associations and government institutions under ...

: 2005–06 Dempo *AWES Cup: 2017

References

External links

* 1985 births Living people People from Verna, Goa Footballers from Goa Dempo SC players India men's youth international footballers India men's international footballers I-League players East Bengal Club players Footballers at the 2010 Asian Games Indian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Asian Games competitors for India Indian Super League players FC Pune City players FC Goa players Churchill Brothers FC Goa players {{India-footy-bio-stub