Steven Benedic Dias (born 25 December 1983) 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 is currently the head coach of Jamshedpur B. An attacking midfielder who played on the wings, he was known for his long range shooting, crosses and passing. Dias made his debut for India in 2006. In his playing days, he was known as the "

David Beckham Sir David Robert Joseph Beckham ( ; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Primarily a right winger and known for his range of passing, cross ...

of India".

Club career

Dias played for one of India's leading clubs

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 ...

(before the club withdrew from Indian football on 30 April 2010 and was disbanded) and played in their

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a 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 Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

winning team, as well as in the

AFC Cup The AFC Champions League Two (abbreviated as the ACL Two or ACL2) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation. It is the second-tier competition of Asian club football, ranked below the AFC C ...

. He later played for clubs 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 ...

such as Churchill Brothers where he made 25 appearances and scored 4 goals. He also played for Mumbai Tigers, Rangdajied United,

Delhi Dynamos FC Odisha Football Club () is an Indian professional football club based in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. Prior to the inaugural Indian Super League season, the club was founded ...

in the inaugural season of the ISL and Bharat FC where he made 17 appearances. He signed for Mumbai FC in 2016 after Bharat FC withdrew from the I-league. Dias has started a club named Ambitious Football Academy in Don Bosco vidyyavihar. He hopes to bring a sensation of football in the youth of the Mumbai.

International career

Dias made his debut 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 ...

in 2004, and was a part of the team that unsuccessfully attempted to qualify for the AFC Asian Cup 2007. He played in India's first

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 ...

title in 2007, scoring twice in a 6–0 win over

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

. He usually takes corners for India and scored straight from one of in a 2–2 draw against Lebanon. He was a regular for the India national team and played an integral role in India's win in the

2008 AFC Challenge Cup The 2008 AFC Challenge Cup football tournament was organised by AFC and was hosted by India. The tournament was played from 30 July – 13 August 2008. India won the final against Tajikistan. India was also the winner of the fair play award an ...

. He was a key player in India's win over Syria in the Nehru Cup of 2009. He helped India qualify for the 2011 Asian Cup in Qatar. He had been chosen to be part of the 30 man squad preparing for the 2011 Asian Cup in Doha. His combination and understanding with striker, Sunil Chhetri, made them a very threatening duo. In 2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification match against

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

he scored a goal. During the Indian Caribbean tour on 24 August 2011 Dias scored a goal against

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

but could not stop India from losing the match 1–2.

International goals

Honours

Player

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

; runner-up:

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 ...

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 ...

Manager

Ambernath United Atlanta * MDFA Elite League: 2022, 2023

Political career

Dias joined the

Shiv Sena Shiv Sena (1966–2022) (; ; SS) was a right-wing Marathi regionalist Hindutva-based political party in India founded in 1966 by Bal Thackeray, who was later succeeded by Uddhav Thackeray. The party is split into two parties: the Uddha ...

on 3 February 2022 in the presence of Maharashtra Tourism Minister and

leader Aaditya Thackeray in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dias, Steven 1983 births Indian men's footballers Indian Roman Catholics India men's international footballers India men's youth international footballers Footballers from Mumbai Living people Churchill Brothers FC Goa players 2011 AFC Asian Cup players I-League players 21st-century Indian sportsmen Mahindra United FC players Air India FC players Mumbai Tigers FC players bharat FC players mumbai FC players Rangdajied United FC players Footballers at the 2006 Asian Games Men's association football midfielders Asian Games footballers for India Indian Super League managers Odisha FC managers