Baoringdao Bodo

Known among his community members as the ‘football juggler boy’ and often referred to as the ‘Indian Neymar Jr.’ by the media, Baoringdao Bodo is an Indian professional footballer playing as a winger. Hailing from Haflong, Assam, Bodo was born to a Dimasa family. He took up an interest in Football when he was 8-years old, but it was at the age of 11, inspirited by his teacher in Haflong Don Bosco, did he decide to pursue his interest further by enrolling into Sports Academy of India in Guwahati for better training in the game.

Two years later, he was chosen for U-14 Indian camp and afterward represented India for a few games. In 2013, he joined AIFF regional academy in Kalyani, Kolkata and trained under Coach Gautam Ghosh. Ghosh played a pivotal role in his development as a footballer and encouraged Bodo at all times. In the same year, he was a part of the U-16 squad that went on to win the 2013 SAFF U-16 Championship.

The same quad later participated in the AFC U-16 Championship Qualifiers in 2014. As his game improved, Bodo transferred to AIFF Elite Academy in Goa. Once there, he went on to represent India in three major tournaments, the likes of I-League U18, Subroto Cup and IFA Shield with India’s U19 squad. At the conclusion of the IFA shield, where his team went till the finals only to lose, he received MVP of the tournament and Top scorer of the tournament awards.

Impressed by his performance, Chennaiyin FC roped him along with four other AIFF Elite Academy students, for signing a long-term contract with the team. He was also sent for a short training stint with FC Metz’s academy in France in 2016 by the FC along with four of his batch mates in AIFF. In January 2017, Minerva Punjab signed him on loan from Chennaiyin for the 2016-17 season of I-League.

Bodo’s debut game for the club was against Shillong Lajong as a 46th-minute substitute for Kamalpreet Singh. He first started a game for the club was against Mumbai, where he also scored a goal making him the youngest to score a goal in the league.

Though signed in 2016, his debut match for Chennaiyin was the third match in the 2016-17 ISL season against Goa. Throughout the season, the youngest player to be signed by an ISL club performed exceptionally well, garnering praises from coaches and media. The winger’s creativity in the field and his footballing brain is often a subject for applaud.

His former coach in AIFF believes he had the potential to go big and praised his aerial ability and bursts of acceleration in the field. Bodo is currently on a pre-season tour in Malaysia with his squad and is looking forward to national camp ahead of the Asian Cup.