Joaquim Abranches (born 28 October 1985) is an Indian professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who last played as a winger for

Dempo S.C. Dempo Sports Club is an Indian professional football club based in Panaji, Goa. The club currently competes in the I-League, the second tier of the Indian football league system, and the Goa Professional League. Dempo is owned and sponsored b ...

in the

Goa Professional League The Goa Football League is a ladder-based football competition in the Indian state of Goa, organised by the Goa Football Association as part of the state leagues. It was formed in 1951 as the Goa Primeira Divisão or Goa First Division, and ...

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 bound by 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, 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 ...

’s top marksman,

Sunil Chhetri Sunil Chhetri (, born 3 August 1984) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Indian Super League club Bengaluru and captains the India national team. He is the all-time top scorer in Indian Super League history. He is ...

, 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 is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The ad ...

Wizards, a team from

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

, 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, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

-based

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 ...

. 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 care ...

. His first appearance in the

I-league The I-League is the men's second professional football division of the Indian football league system behind the Indian Super League. Administered by the All India Football Federation, it is currently contested by 13 clubs. It operates as a s ...

for East Bengal came against

Shillong Lajong Shillong Lajong Football Club (founded as Lajong SC) is an Indian professional football club based in Shillong, Meghalaya. The club is currently competing in the I-League, the second tier of the Indian football league system, following promotio ...

on 9 October 2013 as a substitute for Cavin Lobo.

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 the ...

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

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

on 23 February 2012.

International statistics

International Goals

Honours

India *

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 ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

India U23 *

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 ...

Goa *

Santosh Trophy The National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy, or simply Santosh Trophy, is an inter-state national football competition contested by the state associations and government institutions under the All India Football Federation (AIFF), th ...

: 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 footballers for India Indian Super League players 21st-century Indian sportsmen FC Pune City players FC Goa players Churchill Brothers FC Goa players {{India-footy-forward-stub