Name of the Sportsperson: Abhishek Yadav
Discipline: Football
Date of Birth: 10 June 1980
State: Kanpur, U.P
Achievements and Awards:
• Abhishek Yadav played for local team Rashtriya Chemical Fertilizers (RCF) in the 1998/ 99 season.
• He scored the golden goal against Pakistan in the SAFF Cup in 2003.
• He won all of the major Indian trophies - Durand Cup, IFA Shield, National Football League (the I-League replaced the NFL), Federation Cup and Mumbai League.
• He came off the substitute’s bench and scored the winning goal in the LG Cup final against Vietnam.
• He also led Maharashtra to third and second finishes in Santosh Trophy.
Profile:
Abhishek Yadav a professional footballer was born on 10 June 1980 and represented Maharashtra at Under-19 and Under-21 level before signing for Rashtriya Chemical Fertilizers (RCF) in 1998-99 where he finished as the second highest goal scorer in the Mumbai League.
For the 2000-2001 season, Yadav signed with Churchill Brothers, but returned to Mumbai to play for Mahindra United after just a season. Yadav then spent five seasons with Mahindra United where he won all of the major Indian trophies - Durand Cup, IFA Shield, National Football League (the I-League replaced the NFL), Federation Cup and Mumbai League. He has been a consistent choice in the Indian national squad since 2002. During his debut, Yadav came off the substitute’s bench and scored the winning goal in the LG Cup final against Vietnam. This was the first trophy India had won abroad in 28 years.
In 2007, when Mumbai FC was formed, Abhishek signed for them in a very bold yet brave move as the club were at that time in the second division. He earned them promotion to the I-League by scoring a number of goals in the second division and has played a pivotal role in keeping the Mumbai club in the top flight by finishing as their top scorer in both the 08-09 and 09-10 seasons. At international level, he hasn’t been a first team regular but has kept his place in the squad throughout Bob Houghton’s tenure and he did score in the 3-6 defeat against Yemen.
