Nikhil Poojary

Nikhil Chandra Shekhar Poojary (born 3 September 1995), is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a winger for the Indian Super League club Hyderabad and the India national team.

Nikhil Poojary
Personal information
Full name Nikhil Chandra Shekhar Poojary
Date of birth (1995-09-03) 3 September 1995
Place of birth Mangaluru, Karnataka
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Winger
Team information
Current team
 Hyderabad
Number 27
Youth career
Ryan FC
Dodsal
Mumbai
2015–2016 East Bengal
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2018 East Bengal 14 (0)
2018–2019 Pune City 9 (1)
2019– Hyderabad 47 (1)
International career‡
2017–2018 India U23 5 (0)
2017– India 16 (1)
Medal record
Representing  India
SAFF Championship
Winner 2023 India
Runner-up 2018 Bangladesh
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:43, 5 March 2022 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22:30, 4 July 2023 (UTC)

Club career

Born in Mangalore, Karnataka to a Tulu speaking Billava family, Poojary started his career with Ryan FC in Mumbai.[1] While with Ryan FC, Poojary was selected to play for the Maharashtra under-19 side in the school games nationals.[2] Poojary soon joined the youth side of Mumbai before signing with Kolkata giants East Bengal in 2015.

Poojary made his first-team debut for East Bengal on 4 August 2016 in their opening Calcutta Football League fixture against Bhawanipore. He came on as a 78th minute substitute for Jiten Murmu as East Bengal won 2–1.[3] Poojary scored his first goal for the club on 23 September 2016 during the group stage match of the Bordoloi Trophy against Bongobi Agragami of Bangladesh. His strike in the 87th minute was the last goal in a 6–0 victory.[4]

International career

He scored his first international goal against Maldives in the 2018 SAFF Championship.

Career statistics

Club
As of 5 March 2022[5]
Club Season League Cup AFC Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
East Bengal 2017–18 I-League 1402[lower-alpha 1]0—160
Pune City 2018–19 Indian Super League 912[lower-alpha 2]0—111
Hyderabad 2019–20 18000—180
2020–21 10000—100
2021–22 19100—191
Career total 7024000742
  1. Appearance(s) in Federation Cup
  2. Appearance(s) in Super Cup

International
As of 4 July 2023[6]
National teamYearAppsGoals
India 201720
201851
201910
202380
Total 161

International goals
Scores and results list India's goal tally first
No.DateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetitionRef.
19 September 2018Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka, Bangladesh4 Maldives1–02–02018 SAFF Championship[7]

Honours

India

Hyderabad

References
  1. Nayak, BB (26 June 2011). "CITY-BASED RYAN FOOTBALL CLUB SCORES 2-0, QUALIFIES FOR MDFA SUPER DIVISION". Mumbai Mirror. Archived from the original on 8 January 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  2. Nayak, BB (20 November 2011). "ICLES' MAKES IT TO STATE, TWO NM PLAYERS PICKED FOR NAT'LS". Mumbai Mirror. Archived from the original on 8 January 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  3. Majumdar, Debabrata (4 August 2016). "East Bengal beat Bhawanipore to start Calcutta Football League campaign". The Home of Indian Football Live. Archived from the original on 8 January 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  4. "East Bengal triumph". telegraphindia.com. Guwahati: The Telegraph India. 24 September 2016. Archived from the original on 8 January 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  5. Nikhil Poojary at Soccerway
  6. Nikhil Poojary at National-Football-Teams.com
  7. "India 2–0 Maldives". Soccerway. 9 September 2018. Archived from the original on 14 June 2022. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  8. "Laxmikanth Kattimani the hero as Hyderabad FC beat Kerala Blasters FC on penalties to win first Hero ISL title". Indian Super League. Archived from the original on 22 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
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