Nanjangud Shivananju Manju (born 9 May 1984) 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 lea ...

who played as a defender for

Bengaluru FC Bengaluru Football Club () (Kannada: ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು.ಎಫ್.ಸಿ) is an Indian professional football club based in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club w ...

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 ...

. He was capped 25 times 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 ...

. He is currently working as a Football Commentator in Star Sports 1 Kannada Channel for 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 ...

Career

Early career

In his early career, Manju played for

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited S.C. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Sporting Club (often abbreviated as HAL or HASC) is an Indian institutional multi-sports club based in Bangalore, best known for its association football, football team. It was named after the company Hindustan Ae ...

Mahindra United Mahindra United Football Club (formerly known as Mahindra & Mahindra) was an Indian professional football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Founded in 1962, the club competed in the I-League, then top tier of Indian football league system, bef ...

, and

Mohun Bagan A.C. Mohun Bagan Athletic Club is an Indian professional multi-sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, it is one of the oldest multi-sports clubs in Asia. The club has various sports departments like football, cricket, hockey ...

all in the

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 ...

and

. Manju was nominated for the ‘Best Indian Player’ Award at the inaugural edition of the FPAI Awards Night in 2009.

United Sikkim

On 18 February 2011, it was announced that Manju had signed with United Sikkim F.C. of the

I-League 2nd Division The I-League 2 is an Indian men's professional association football, football league. It is the 3rd tier of the Indian football league system, behind the Indian Super League and the I-League. It operates as a system of promotion and relegation ...

along with national team teammate Renedy Singh. The major decider in him going was the fact that the team was owned by his national teammate Baichung Bhutia.

Pune FC (loan)

On 7 January 2012, it was confirmed that Manju had signed for

side Pune F.C. on loan for the remainder of the 2011–12 I-League season.

Bengaluru FC

After not playing at all during the 2012–13 I-League season, Manju signed for new direct-entry

club

for the 2013–14 season. He made his debut for the club on 2 November 2013 against

Mumbai F.C. Mumbai Football Club was an Indian professional association football, football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The club predominantly competed in I-League, then top flight of Indian football league system. Mumbai also participated in Mumbai ...

at the Balewadi Sports Complex in which he played the full match as Bengaluru FC drew the match 2–2.

International

After doing well in domestic league football, Manju earned a call-up to the

India national football team The India national football team represents India in men's international Association football, football and is governed by the All India Football Federation, the governing body for Football in India, football in India. It is a member of FIFA, ...

. Before playing for the seniors, Manju was captain of the India U23 team. He was on the India national squad who won the prestigious

Nehru Cup The Nehru Cup was an international football tournament organised by the All India Football Federation (AIFF), named after the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru. It was launched in 1982, but was not held from 1998 to 2006. After ...

in 2007 and 2009. He was on the squad that toured Barcelona as a preparatory camp for the Nehru Cup 2009, but unfortunately got himself injured in the first match of the Nehru Cup 2009 vs Lebanon which ruled him out of the Nehru Cup 2009, IFA Shield, Durand Cup as well as Federation Cup.

International goals

:''Scores and results list India's goal tally first.''

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 ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

; runner-up:

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manju, Nanjangud Shivananju 1984 births Living people Indian men's footballers Sportspeople from Mysore 2011 AFC Asian Cup players I-League players I-League 2 players 21st-century Indian sportsmen India men's international footballers India men's youth international footballers Hindustan Aeronautics Limited SC players Mahindra United FC players United Sikkim FC players Mohun Bagan Super Giant players Pune FC players Bengaluru FC players Footballers at the 2006 Asian Games Footballers from Karnataka Men's association football defenders Asian Games footballers for India South Asian Games silver medalists for India South Asian Games medalists in football