 Fernandes training withGoa in 2019 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Bruno Fernandes | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1994-09-20)20 September 1994 (age 30)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Margao, Goa, India | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Attacking midfielder | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Mumbai City | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 10 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2002–2007 | Fransa-Pax[2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Velsao Pale Sports Club | |||||||||||||||||
| Goa United Football Association | |||||||||||||||||
| Salgaocar | |||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2013 | ASD Cape Town Academy | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2013–2014 | ASD Cape Town[3] | 6 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2015 | Sporting Goa | 9 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| 2015–2017 | Mumbai City | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2016 | →Mohun Bagan (loan) | 4 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017 | Churchill Brothers | 15 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017–2024 | Goa | 109 | (11) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024– | Mumbai City | 15 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2014 | India U20 | 7 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019– | India | 30 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:32, 27 January 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22:00, 24 April 2024 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||
Brandon Fernandes (born 20 September 1994) is an Indian professionalfootballer who plays as anattacking midfielder forIndian Super League clubMumbai City and theIndia national team.
Born inMargao, Goa, Fernandes started playing competitive football at age six when his parents got him into the youth set-up atFransa-Pax.[4] After Fransa-Pax disbanded, he moved to the youth set-up at Velsao Pale Sports Club where he played for the club's under-14 side as an eight year old.[4] After spending time with Velsao Pale, Fernandes moved to the Goa United Football Academy before being signed bySalgaocar to join their under-14 side.[4] During his time at Salgaocar, he represented the team at the under-14, under-16, and under-19 levels.[4]
After impressive performances for both Salgaocar and theIndia under-20 side, Brandon was enrolled into the ASD Football Academy inCape Town,South Africa.[4] While with ASD, Fernandes attracted many scouts from around Europe resulting in trials from three English clubs,Leicester City,[5][6]Reading,[7] andSunderland,[8] but could not earn a contract at any of those clubs. Fernandes also played for the ASD Cape Town team in theSAFA Second Division, the third-tier of South African football, where he managed to score 12 goals from 12 matches, 4 of which were free-kicks.[8]
Before playing in theLusophony Games in 2014, Fernandes was supposed to go on trial withAS Monaco but the trials never materialized.[1] After impressing forGoa during the2014 Lusophony Games, he rejected offers from seven differentI-League clubs, stating that he would like to wait for an offer from a European club.[1]
A year after his contract with ASD Cape Town expired, and after saying in the past that he would not play in theI-League, Fernandes returned to India to sign forSporting Goa.[9] He made his professional debut for the club on 8 February 2015 againstMumbai at theCooperage Ground, starting the match and playing 23 minutes before being substituted off due to an injury as Sporting Goa drew the match 0–0.[10] he returned from injury to make his second appearance for Sporting Goa againstRoyal Wahingdoh, coming on as a 68th-minute substitute forAnthony Wolfe, and was booked as Sporting drew 0–0.[11] Brandon scored his first senior professional goal againstSalgaocar on 19 April 2015 in a 2–0 win for Sporting Goa[12]
Fernandes then put in a man of the match performance overBharat on 2 May 2015. Pressuring the Bharat defense throughout his 88 minutes on the pitch, he scored from a free-kick in the 42nd minute to help Sporting Goa win 2–0, their second victory of the season entering the final month of the campaign.[13] After the match, Fernandes was praised by Sporting Goa head coach,Mateus Costa, when he said that "Since Brandon joined our squad, things have really changed. He is very good on the wing and we were lacking that kind of a player. He is also a free-kick specialist and the goal that he scored today was beautiful".[14]
Fernandes then scored another well struck goal on 20 May 2015 againstShillong Lajong. Pouncing on a mistake by Shillong Lajong goalkeeper,Rehenesh TP, in which the keeper miss kicked his clearance, Brandon slotted the ball into the net from more than 30 yards out. Sporting Goa went on to win 2–1.[15] He assistedSandesh Jhingan in the final round of the season, from a corner, in an eventual 4–0 win for his team, thus helping confirming the status of his team in the top flight for the next I-League season.[16]
Brandon was picked up in the2015 Indian Super League draft byMumbai City during the first round for Rs. 12 lakhs.[17][18] Having missed the first 7 rounds of the2015 Indian Super League season through injury, Brandon made his debut againstDelhi Dynamos in round 8, coming on as a substitute in a 1–1 draw for his team.[19] On his first start for Mumbai City, which was his second appearance of the season, Brandon was injured and ruled out of the season.[20]
On 6 January 2016 it was announced that Brandon has signed for reigningI-League championsMohun Bagan on loan fromMumbai City.[21] He made his debut for Mohun Bagan on 30 January 2016 againstDSK Shivajians. He played 60 minutes as Mohun Bagan won the match 2–0.[22] He scored his first goal for the club a month later on 1 March againstSporting Goa. His strike came in the 28th minute but Fernandes had to be taken off the pitch four minutes later due to a knee injury.[23] It was later revealed that Fernandes would most likely require surgery on his knee.[24]
Brandon signed for the newly re-instated I-League clubChurchill Brothers for the2016-17 I-League season.[25] After missing out on large portions of the previous two years through injury, Brandon would have a very active season as he appeared 15 times in the league for Churchill where he would score 3 goals and would finish as the highest provider of assists with 7 assists.[25] The high point of his season would be the game againstChennai City where he would assist 4 times and score once in a 6–1 win for his team.[26] He would also play in theFederation Cup but could not help his team qualify for the semi-finals.[citation needed]
Fernandes was drafted in byGoa for the2017–18 Indian Super League season at a cost of ₹2,750,000.[27] He would play 15 times for his club and provide 4 assists during the season in the league, and score twice in theSuper Cup as Goa was eliminated byEast Bengal in the cup competition. On 24 January 2018, he signed a new contract with FC Goa, keeping him at the club until 2020.[28]
During the2018–19 season, Brandon was an integral part of theSergio Lobera's system, playing primarily on the left side of midfield as his team finished second the league on head-to-head ruling. Goa would be defeated in the play-off final byBengaluru as he ended the season with 3 goals and 4 assists. He was also part of Goa's2019 Super Cup winning team, where he scored thrice in the competition, including the final.[29]
Fernandes continued with Goa for the2019–20 season, primarily on the left side of midfield asHugo Boumous moved to the attacking midfielder role to play behindCoro. He scored twice and assist 7 times in 17 appearances in the season, finishing as the highest assisting Indian player in the league once again.
On 10 April 2021, Fernandes signed a new three-year contract with Goa, keeping him at the club until 2024.[30] On 20 April 2021, Fernandes assistedEdu Bedia to score the first ever goal by an Indian club in theAFC Champions League's group stage, despite his team losing the game againstPersepolis.[31] On 26 April 2021, Fernandes again assisted Ortiz for a 1–1 draw in their last AFC Champions League game against Qatari clubAl Rayyan.
On 1 June 2024, Fernandes joined Mumbai City on a three-year contract, with an option to extend by a further season.[32] He made his second debut for the club in their first league match of theseason, away againstMohun Bagan SG as an 85th-minute substitute forJeremy Manzorro,[33] as Mumbai went on to fight back from 2-0 down to draw the game 2-2.
While playing for Velsao Pale, Fernandes was selected to join the India U14 side during the AFC U-14 Football Festival in 2007.[4] He then went on to captain theIndia U17 which won the Coca-Cola Celebration Cup in 2010.[4] Fernandes also scored in his first ever match for theIndia U20 team on 31 October 2011 againstTurkmenistan during the2012 AFC U-19 Championship qualifiers.[34] Brandon is widely regarded as the best midfielders in India. He has played for India at all levels except the senior team. Many fans criticised the decision of the coach to snub the likes of Brandon Fernandez, Rahul Bheke, Sosairaj, Mandar, Adil who have been performing well for the last 2–3 seasons for the AFC Asian Cup 2019.
In 2014, Fernandes represented his home state,Goa, during the2014 Lusophony Games.[35] He played in the final of the tournament, assisting twice and scoring once from the penalty spot, as Goa beat the under-20 team ofMozambique to become the champions at the Lusophony Games.[36] Brandon played 4 times, and scored thrice during the Lusophony games.[37][38][39][40]
Fernandes was born on 20 September 1994 inMargao, Goa,[1] toKonkani actor and singerJaju Fernandes. His paternal uncle,Roseferns, is also involved in theKonkani stage as a theatre director and actor.[41] Fernandes married his fiancée, Kim Alemao, in April 2022.[citation needed]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | AFC | Others | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Sporting Goa | 2014–15 | I-League | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | 9 | 3 | |||
| Mumbai City | 2015 | Indian Super League | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| Mohun Bagan (loan) | 2015–16 | I-League | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 4 | 1 | |||
| Churchill Brothers | 2016–17 | 15 | 3 | 3[a] | 1 | — | 18 | 4 | ||||
| Goa | 2017–18 | Indian Super League | 15 | 0 | 2[b] | 2 | — | 17 | 2 | |||
| 2018–19 | 18 | 3 | 4[b] | 3 | — | 22 | 6 | |||||
| 2019–20 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 17 | 2 | |||||
| 2020–21 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6[c] | 0 | 18 | 0 | ||||
| 2021–22 | 7 | 0 | — | — | 4[d] | 1 | 11 | 1 | ||||
| 2022–23 | 20 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | 21 | 3 | |||||
| 2023–24 | 20 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | 4[d] | 0 | 24 | 3 | |||
| Goa total | 109 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 130 | 17 | ||
| Mumbai City | 2024–25 | Indian Super League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career total | 139 | 18 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 163 | 25 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| India | 2019 | 7 | 0 |
| 2021 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 7 | 0 | |
| Total | 29 | 0 | |
FC Goa
India
India U20 (Goa India)
