Brandon Fernandes: Player Analysis
Brandon Fernandes is an Indian professional footballer who plays for FC Goa as an attacking midfielder. He began his youth career in Fransa-Pax. After Fransa-Pax was disbanded, Brandon signed for Velsao Pale Sports Club U14 team as an 8-year-old. After some time, he was signed by Salgaocar FC where he would play in their U14, U16 and U19 sides.
Following splendid performances for Salgaocar and the Indian U20 team, Brandon joined the ASD Football Academy in Cape Town, South Africa. Fernandes also featured for the ASD Cape Town team in the SAFA Second Division, the third-tier of South African football, where he scored 12 goals from 12 matches, 4 of which were free-kicks. When playing for ASD, Brandon attracted scouts from Europe. He was given trials at three English clubs namely Leicester City, Reading and Sunderland. Unfortunately for Brandon, he could not secure a contract at any of the three clubs. Brandon should have had a trial with French club AS Monaco but it never took place.
He dazzled for Goa in the 2014 Lusophony Games which is the Portuguese equivalent of the British Commonwealth Games. Following the games, he rejected offers from I-League clubs, saying that he would like to wait for an offer from a European club. After not receiving an offer from Europe for over a year, Brandon returned to India.
When he returned to India, he signed for Sporting Goa. His debut for the club came in February 2015 and his first goal for the club came in April 2015. He made 9 appearances and scored 3 goals for Sporting Goa. In 2015 ISL draft, Brandon was picked by Mumbai City FC. He featured only twice due to an injury riddled season. In January 2016, Mohun Bagan signed Brandon on loan from Mumbai City FC. He featured 4 times for the club scoring 1 goal. After the end of the 15-16 I-League season, Brandon signed for Churchill Brothers FC for the 2016-17 I-League season. Brandon overcame his injury troubles this season as he made 15 appearances and was involved in 10 goals (3 goals and 7 assists).
Ahead of the 2017-18 ISL season, Brandon was picked by FC Goa in the ISL draft. Since the 17-18 season, Brandon has settled in FC Goa making 56 appearances across three seasons in all competitions. He has also been capped 7 times by India.
