Rakesh Masih (born 18 March 1987) is an Indian

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 currently plays for

Tollygunge Agragami Tollygunge Agragami Football Club is an Indian professional multi-sports club known for its Association football, football section. It is based in Tollygunge, Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1943 as "Russa Agragami Samity", the club competes i ...

in the

Calcutta Football League The Calcutta Football League (CFL) is a ladder-based football competition in the Indian state of West Bengal, organised by the Indian Football Association (WB) as part of the state leagues. It is the oldest football league in Asia. The CFL ...

Career

Masih spent four years at the Tata Football Academy and was regarded as one of the best cadets of his batch. While at the TFA, Masih earned a call up to the India Under-23 side in 2007 and played in the 2008 Olympic qualifiers. In 2008, he signed for the Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan and had a wonderful season. The Punjab born player can play both as a central defender and in central midfield because of his strong build and good heading ability. Then-Mohun Bagan coach Karim Bencherifa used him in central midfield alongside the experienced Marcos Pereira and the two formed one of the best central midfield partnerships in the 2008–09 I-League campaign. Masih was instrumental in Bagan's record breaking ten match winning run in the league and the Federation Cup triumph that season. In January 2009, Masih made his international debut in the 2-1 defeat against Hong Kong and since then he has been a regular member of the Indian squad. Masih's performances in the 2008–09 season won him nominations for the "Best Young Player" and "Best Player Of The Year (Fans' Choice)" categories in the inaugural edition of the FPAI Awards in 2009. Last season, he was troubled with a number of injuries and thus could not feature regularly for Mohun Bagan in the I-League. He returned in the second half of the season but never regained his best form and Mohun Bagan struggled.

Mohammedan (loan)

Masih signed for Mohammedan on loan from

Salgaocar F.C. Salgaocar Football Club (formerly Salgaocar Sporting Club) is an Indian professional football club based in Vasco, Goa. Being one of the country's most successful clubs, it is currently operating youth teams. Until the disfunction of its seni ...

and made his debut in the I-league on 20 October 2013 at the

Bangalore Football Stadium The Bangalore Football Stadium is a association football, football stadium in Bangalore, Karnataka. It has served as a venue in three editions of the I-League, then top-tier football league in the country. The stadium was the home of Bengaluru ...

against

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 ...

. He played the whole match, which Mohammedan lost 2-1.

References

External links

* * http://goal.com/en-india/people/india/21512/rakesh-masih * https://web.archive.org/web/20110714111335/http://mohunbaganac.com/SEPT08/playerdetails.php?playerId=69 * http://mohunbaganac.com/SEPT08/news_details.php?newsid=296 * https://archive.today/20110925111555/http://mohunbaganac.com/SEPT08/news_details.php?newsid=943 {{DEFAULTSORT:Masih, Rakesh Indian men's footballers 1987 births Living people 2011 AFC Asian Cup players I-League players I-League 2 players Indian Super League players 21st-century Indian sportsmen India men's international footballers Tata Football Academy players Mohun Bagan Super Giant players Salgaocar FC players Mohammedan SC (Kolkata) players ATK (football club) players southern Samity players chennai City FC players east Bengal Club players Footballers from Punjab, India Men's association football defenders Tollygunge Agragami FC players