Anas Edathodika facts for kids
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Anas celebrating after India's win against Thailand at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 15 February 1987 | ||
| Place of birth | Kondotty, Kerala, India | ||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Centre-back | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Malappuram FC | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2007–2011 | Mumbai | 103 | (5) |
| 2011–2015 | Pune | 106 | (0) |
| 2015–2017 | Delhi Dynamos | 35 | (1) |
| 2017 | → Mohun Bagan (loan) | 17 | (0) |
| 2017–2018 | Jamshedpur | 18 | (0) |
| 2018–2019 | Kerala Blasters | 18 | (0) |
| 2019–2020 | ATK | 19 | (0) |
| 2021–2022 | Jamshedpur | 34 | (0) |
| 2023–2024 | Gokulam Kerala FC | 4 | (0) |
| 2024 | Malappuram FC | 5 | (0) |
| National team | |||
| 2017–2019 | India | 21 | (0) |
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Anas Edathodika (born 15 February 1987) is a former Indian professional footballer. He played as a centre-back, which is a key defensive position in football. Anas was known for his strong defending skills and leadership on the field.
Contents
Club Career
Starting Out
Anas was born in Kondotty, Malappuram, Kerala. He went to the EMEA College of Arts and Science in Kondotty. Anas started taking football seriously when he was in tenth grade. He joined the Malappuram U14s team.
While playing football, Anas also worked as a driver to earn money. He then joined the football team at N.S.S College, Manjeri. There, he improved his skills with the help of Dr. P.M. Sudhir Kumar. A former Indian national team player, Feroz Sherif, saw Anas playing in a college game. Sherif told Anas to try out for I-League 2nd Division club Mumbai. Anas passed the trials and signed a one-year contract with the club.
After his first season, Anas helped Mumbai FC get promoted to the I-League. Because of his good performance, he signed a new three-year deal with the club. Anas has said that his coach at Mumbai, Dave Booth, helped him become the strong defender he is today.
Playing for Pune
After playing four seasons with Mumbai, Anas joined their rivals, Pune F.C., in the I-League. He signed a two-year contract on 23 July 2011. The head of operations at Pune, Chirag Tanna, said they had been watching Anas for two years and were happy he joined their team.
One of his first matches for Pune was a friendly game against the English Premier League team Blackburn Rovers. This game happened on 7 October 2011. However, Anas was sent off (given a red card) after only 15 minutes. This happened because he received two yellow cards for rough tackles.
Before the 2012–13 season, Anas got malaria. This made him miss part of Pune's training before the season started. But he recovered and returned to training on 2 August 2012. After this setback, Anas had his best season yet. He played in all 26 matches for Pune in the I-League. He helped the Pune defense only let in 26 goals that season. Because of his excellent play, Anas won the Pune Football Club Player of The Year award for 2012–13. He was the first Indian player and the first defender to win this big award for the club.
As a reward for his great two seasons, Pune offered Anas a two-year contract extension, which he accepted.
Becoming Captain
For the 2013–14 season, Anas was named the captain of Pune FC. He led the team in their first league match of the season against Mohammedan. The game was played at the Salt Lake Stadium on 21 September 2013. Anas played the entire match, and Pune won 3–1.
After the match, he said he was very honored to wear the captain's armband for the first time. He thanked the new coach, Mike Snoei, for giving him this chance. Anas felt that the coach's trust helped him believe in himself even more.
Moving to Other Clubs
In 2015, Anas was chosen by Delhi Dynamos. In 2016, the club sent him to A-League team Central Coast Mariners in Australia for a week of training.
On 23 July 2017, Anas was the first player chosen by Jamshedpur in the 2017–18 ISL Players Draft. This made him the first player in Jamshedpur's history. He played his first game for the club on 18 November 2017 against NorthEast United. Jamshedpur drew the match 0–0.
In 2018, Anas signed with Kerala Blasters, which was his home club. He played as a centre-back alongside his national teammate Sandesh Jhingan.
In 2019, he joined ATK and was given the number 30 jersey.
Playing for India
Anas made his first appearance for the senior Indian national team on 22 March 2017. It was a friendly match against Cambodia, which India won 3-2. He also represented India at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, which is a major football tournament for Asian countries.
Achievements
Anas Edathodika has won several awards and titles during his career:
India
- Tri-Nation Series: 2017
- Intercontinental Cup: 2018
Individual
- I-League "Jarnail Singh" Award for Best Defender: 2016–17
See Also
- List of Indian Super League players
