Deepak Kumar Mondal (born 12 October 1979) is an Indian former 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 lea ...

who played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. A graduate of the Tata Football Academy, An Arjuna Award winner, he was one of India's most prominent right backs for over a decade, earning 47 caps with the India national team. Mondal also played with both the Kolkata giants,

East Bengal East Bengal (; ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was the eastern province of the Dominion of Pakistan, which covered the territory of modern-day Bangladesh. It consisted of the eastern portion of the Bengal region, and existed from 1947 until 195 ...

and Mohun Bagan, spending five years at each club, captaining both of them.

Club career

Born in Noamundi,

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

, Mondal began playing football from a young age in his district. He was spotted by Tata Football Academy coach, Ranjan Chowdhury, at the age of sixteen who invited Mondal to join the academy. Mondol graduated from the Tata Football Academy in 1998. After graduating from the academy, Mondal signed with

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

side, JCT Mills Phagwara. He stayed at the club for two seasons before joining Kolkata side,

. It was at East Bengal that Mondal began to impress and even earn himself caps for

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. On 30 December 2002, after impressing the

All India Football Federation All India Football Federation (AIFF) is the governing body of football, futsal and beach soccer in India. It is a member of FIFA, and is affiliated with the Asian Football Confederation and South Asian Football Federation. It is affiliated wit ...

and national team head coach, Stephen Constantine, with his performances in the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

and the ASEAN Club Championship for East Bengal, Mondal was named the AIFF Player of the Year. On winning the award, AIFF president at the time, Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, said that Mondal "infused a new confidence in the deep defense". Overall, while with East Bengal, Mondal won the National Football League title three times, two Durand Cup's, and four Calcutta Football League titles. While at East Bengal, Mondal was part of a strong backline with Surkumar Singh and Mahesh Gawli. Mondal stayed with East Bengal until 2005, when he signed for Mumbai side Mahindra United. While with Mahindra United Mondal won another NFL title. He also won a Federation Cup while with the side. After a season with Mahindra United, Mondal moved back to Kolkata to sign with East Bengal rivals, Mohun Bagan. On 22 December 2008, Mondal helped Mohun Bagan win their only national title while with the club, the Federation Cup. The club defeated Dempo to win their thirteenth Federation Cup title and Mondal's second. In September 2010, Mondal was awarded the Arjuna Award. After representing India at the

2011 AFC Asian Cup The 2011 AFC Asian Cup was the 15th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in Qatar from 7 to 29 January 2011. It was the secon ...

, Mondal saw out his contract with Mohun Bagan and was released by the club. On 17 August 2011 it was announced that Mondal had signed with newly rebranded Kolkata side, Prayag United, with them being based in Kolkata a main reason for him signing. Despite the club going through financial troubles, Mondal remained with the side, soon renamed to just United, till 2014. On 9 May 2014 it was announced Mondal had re-signed with East Bengal. While with East Bengal, Mondal also represented Mumbai City and Kerala Blasters in the

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

. After two years with East Bengal again, Mondal signed for Calcutta Football League side Southern Samity. After the season concluded, Mondal signed with Ozone FC for the DSK Cup.

International career

Mondal represented

47 times. He won two Nehru Cup's with India, first in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

and then

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

. He also helped India win the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup and thus qualify for the

, their first in 27 years. Like at club level, Mondal thrived under his partnership with Mahesh Gawli with India.

Honours

East Bengal *

IFA Shield The IFA Shield is a football competition organized by the Indian Football Association, the football governing body in the Indian state of West Bengal. The IFA came into existence in 1893, and was named after the association. The IFA Shield to ...

: 2000 * ASEAN Club Championship:

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

India * AFC Challenge Cup:

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

SAFF Championship The SAFF Championship (erstwhile SAARC Gold Cup and SAFF Gold Cup), is the primary association football competition contested by the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the South Asian Football Fede ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

; runner-up:

* Nehru Cup:

South Asian Games The South Asian Games is a quadrennial multi-sport event held among athletes from South Asia. The South Asia Olympic Council, which was formed in 1983, governs it. The Games consist of seven countries, namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, N ...

Bronze medal:

India U23 * LG Cup: 2002 Individual * AIFF Player of the Year: 2002 * He twice won the Nehru Cup: in 2007 and 2009, held in New Delhi, India where Syria, India, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, and Bangladesh were the participating countries. * Mondal was instrumental in leading team India to win the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) Challenge Cup, held in the year 2008 hosted by India. This success enabled team India to qualify for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup. * Mondal was honored with the Arjuna Award in the year 2010.

References

External links

Indian Super League profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mondal, Deepak Kumar 1978 births Living people People from West Singhbhum district Indian men's footballers JCT FC players East Bengal Club players Mahindra United FC players Mohun Bagan Super Giant players United SC players Mumbai City FC players Kerala Blasters FC players ozone FC players Men's association football defenders Footballers from Jharkhand I-League players Indian Super League players 21st-century Indian sportsmen India men's international footballers India men's youth international footballers Recipients of the Arjuna Award 2011 AFC Asian Cup players Footballers at the 2002 Asian Games Southern Samity players Asian Games competitors for India South Asian Games medalists in football South Asian Games bronze medalists for India

Club career

International career

Honours

References

Further reading

External links