Keenan Almeida (born 10 December 1991) is an Indian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

right 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 ...

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

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 ...

Career

Born in

Margao Margao or Madgaon is the commercial capital of the Indian state of Goa. It stands on banks of the Sal river and is the administrative headquarters of Salcete sub-district and South Goa district. It is Goa's second largest city by population ...

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 ...

, Almeida started his career with Salgaocar in both the

and

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 ...

. Due to lack of playing time, before the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season, Almeida signed for Sporting Goa. However, it would not be until the 2013–14 season when Almeida would make his debut for the club. It occurred on 23 November 2013 when Sporting Goa took on eventual champions,

Bengaluru FC Bengaluru Football Club () is an Indian professional football club based in Bangalore, Karnataka. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was established on 20 July 2013, and began its first ...

, at the

Bangalore Football Stadium The Bangalore Football Stadium is a football stadium in Bangalore, Karnataka. It was a venue in three editions of the I-League, top-tier football league in the country, and home of Bengaluru FC for one season, when they won I-League trophy in f ...

. He started the match and played the full 90 as it ended 0–0.

FC Goa

After failing to get regular playing time at Sporting Goa, Almeida signed for

FC Goa Football Club Goa is an Indian professional football club based in Goa, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was established on 26 August 2014. Nicknamed as '' Gaurs'', the club plays their h ...

of the

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

on 18 July 2015. On 11 March 2016, Keenan was resigned by FC Goa for

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 fina ...

. He played 7 times for the club in the season but could not help his team qualify for the semi-finals.

Churchill Brothers (loan)

He was signed on loan by the newly re-instated

club

for the

2016–17 I-League The 2016–17 I-League was the 10th season of the I-League, the top Indian professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 2007. The season began on 7 January 2017 and concluded on 30 April 2017. Aizawl won their ...

season. He would make 17 appearances in the league for his team as they finish a respectable 6th.

International

After being a regular for Sporting Goa during the 2013–14 I-League season, Almeida was selected for the India U23 side that would participate at the 2014 Asian Games in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

Career statistics

Honours

Club

;Chennaiyin FC *

: 2017–18

Personal life

He is married to Liza Araujo since 28 December 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Almeida, Keenan 1991 births Living people People from Margao Indian men's footballers India men's youth international footballers Salgaocar FC players SC de Goa players FC Goa players Men's association football defenders Footballers from Goa I-League players Goa Professional League players Footballers at the 2014 Asian Games Asian Games competitors for India Indian Super League players Churchill Brothers FC Goa players Chennaiyin FC players FC Pune City players Hyderabad FC players Mumbai City FC players