Baichung Bhutia
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| Baichung Bhutia | ||
 |
||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | December 15, 1976 | |
| Place of birth | Tinkitam, Sikkim, India | |
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) | |
| Playing position | Forward | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Mohun Bagan | |
| Number | 15 | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1993-1995 1995-1997 1997-1999 1999-2002 2002-2003 2003-2006 2006 2006-present |
East Bengal Club JCT Mills East Bengal Club Bury Mohun Bagan East Bengal Club →Perak (loan), Mohun Bagan |
? (?) ? (?) ? (?) 37 (3) ? (?) ? (?) ? (?) ? (?) |
| National team2 | ||
| 1997– | India | 55 (21) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
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Baichung Bhutia (born December 15, 1976 in Tinkitam, Sikkim, India) is an Indian football player. He is known by his fans as the torchbearer of Indian Football in the international arena. He is currently the captain of Indian team and plays for Mohun Bagan Club.
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[edit] Football career
He started his education is St. Xaviers School, Pakyoung, East Sikkim and eventually won a SAI Scholarship to attend the Tashi Namgyal Academy in Gangtok. He went on to play for several school and local clubs in his home state of Sikkim. A stellar performance at the 1992 Subroto Cup brought him to the notice of the football establishment.
In 1993, at the age of sixteen, he left school to join the professional East Bengal Club in Calcutta. In 1995, he moved to JCT Mills, Phagwara, which went on to win the India National Football League that year. Bhutia was the top scorer in the league, and was chosen to play in the Nehru Cup. He was named "1996 Indian Player of the Year" and has won numerous other awards since then.
In 1997 he returned to East Bengal, and became team captain in the 1998-99 season. Baichung Bhutia has the unique distinction of scoring the only hatrick in the Derby Clashes between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan, when he registered the same in East Bengal's 4-1 triumph in 1997 Federation Cup Semi Final. In 1999 he travelled overseas to play for Bury F.C. after unsuccessful trials with both Fulham F.C. [1]and Aston Villa F.C. [2]with the move improving his conditioning and strategy. In 2002 he returned to India and played for the Mohun Bagan AC for a year before returning again to the East Bengal Club, helping them to win the Asean Cup (Association of South East Asian Nations) Club Championship. He signed up to play for Perak, the Malaysian championship club, from August to October of 2003 and returning to East Bengal for the regular season. He continued to play for East Bengal till the end of 2005-2006 season. In 2006, he joined Mohun Bagan AC and has remained with them since then. He has recently renewed his contract for a further two years from 2008 to 2010 with the Mohun Bagan.
[edit] Personal life
Bhutia comes from a Buddhist background, and is by conviction an atheist.[3] He married his longtime girlfriend Madhuri Tipnis on December 27, 2004 in his native village of Tinkitam in South Sikkim.[4]
He signed an endorsement deal with Adidas India Marketing Pvt. Ltd in November of 2003. Currently he is endorsing Nike India. He has also appeared in the advertisvement by Nike, Highlighting The Chance to visit the Nou Camp stadium In Barcelona.
The Sikkimese government has built a stadium, the Baichung Stadium in Namchi, the district headquarters, in honor of Baichung. He is one of the most popular figures in the state and is considered as a role model to many Sikkimese as well to people from other states of India.
In 2008, Bhutia was solicited to run with the Olympic torch in India, but he refused to carry the torch to show support for the Tibetan independence movement. "I sympathise with the Tibetan cause. I'm against violence but I thought I should stand by the Tibetan people in their fight," Bhutia said. [5] He was the first Indian to refuse carrying the Olympic torch. His actions have won him praise from the Tibetan community and its supporters in India [6].
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- http://www.indianfootball.com - India's Premier Football Site
- http://www.indianfootball.com/bhutia - Baichung Bhutia @ IndianFootball.Com
- http://www.kolkatafootball.com - India's largest Football Site
