Narender Thapa
Personal information
Date of birth 22 September 1964
Place of birth Punjab, India
Date of death (aged 57)
Place of death Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Mohun Bagan AC
Mohammedan Sporting
West Bengal
Food Corporation of India
International career
1983–? India 29
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Narender Thapa[lower-alpha 1] (22 September 1964 – 5 August 2022) was an Indian footballer who played as a forward. He represented the India national team at the 1984 Asian Cup, where the team finished bottom in the group stage. He also played for West Bengal, winning the Santosh Trophy in 1986. Through his career he represented both of Calcutta's football clubs, Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan Sporting.

Career in football

Thapa was born on 22 September 1964.[2] He was from the Indian state of Punjab and moved to Calcutta in the 1980s. He played as a forward[3] and was noted for his craftiness in gameplay. At the club level, he played for both of Calcutta's football clubs Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan Sporting at different times in his career.[3][4] Between Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan Sporting, he was also a part of teams that won the IFA Shield, Rovers Cup, and Federation Cup.[5]

Thapa made his debut with the India national team in 1983 playing against China in the Nehru Cup in Cochin in the southern Indian state of Kerala.[4] He was considered one of coach Milovan Ćirić's favorites.[1] Through his career he played 29 matches and scored three goals. His best performance came in the 1984 Great Wall Cup in Beijing where he scored the winning goal against Algeria allowing the Indian team to win 1–0.[1] He represented the India national team at the 1984 Asian Cup, where the team finished bottom in the group stage.[6] He also played for West Bengal, winning the Santosh Trophy in 1986.[1]

Personal life

In addition to being a footballer, Thapa was employed with the Food Corporation of India (FCI), an Indian public sector enterprise.[5] He also represented FCI in the B-division leagues.[7]

Thapa died on 5 August 2022 from a cardiac arrest. He was 57 years old.[1] He had suffered a paralytic attack a few years earlier that had left his right side paralysed.[1] An obituary in the Indian sports magazine Sportstar called him a "brawny forward" and described his gameplay as a "rare combination of skill, speed and stamina".[3]

Honours

West Bengal

Explanatory notes

  1. ↑ Thapa has also been referenced as Narendra Thapa.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Bhaduri, Archiman (5 August 2022). "Ex-India football player Narendra Thapa passes away". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 6 August 2022. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  2. ↑ "Food Corporation of India". webcache.googleusercontent.com. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 Sharma, Amitabha Das (5 August 2022). "Star forward of the 80s Narendra Thapa no more". The Hindu, sportstar.thehindu.com. Archived from the original on 5 August 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  4. 1 2 "AIFF condoles the demise of former India forward Narendra Thapa". www.the-aiff.com. All India Football Federation. Archived from the original on 14 August 2022. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  5. 1 2 আনন্দ, ওয়েব ডেস্ক, এবিপি (5 August 2022). "চলে গেলেন তিন প্রধানের হয়ে খেলা তারকা ফরোয়ার্ড নরিন্দর". bengali.abplive.com (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 5 August 2022. Retrieved 7 August 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ↑ "The Indian Senior Team at the 1984 Singapore Asia Cup". Archived from the original on 5 November 2019.
  7. ↑ Amalraj, Victor; Sen Gupta, Abhijit (12 July 2022). Midfield Maestro: Victor Amalraj: A Memoir. Notion Press. ISBN 979-8-88704-968-7.
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