MARGAO
Three Dempo Academy players, Vinay Harji, Delmon Fernandes and Velanco Rodrigues, have been called up for the Indian national team in their respective age groups, taking the total call-ups for Dempo academy boys in the national team to four.
While Vinay and Velanco have been taken on loan to India Arrows in the I-League, Delmon has joined the U-16 national team. All three players have been part of the youth development setup of the Golden Eagles since 2017. Velanco and Vinay were initiated into the Dempo SC Academy right since inception in 2017 while Delmon joined in 2018 after being part of the Dempo U-13 squads under coach Pradeep Chopdekar.
Velanco and Vinay, both have been part of the current Goa Professional League squad this season and have had some good performances for the senior team in the league so far.
Velanco, a right-winger has featured in most of the games for Dempo SC in the GPL this season while Vinay has taken the field in the centre midfield position in a few games this season. Both the players will look forward to their stint in the Indian Arrows team this season in Kolkata, where another former Dempo stalwart, Mahesh Gawli is part of the coaching team. The duo will be registered once the transfer window opens in January and have already joined the squad in Kolkata.
Delmon, a towering centre-back, has been the mainstay in defence for the Dempo junior teams since 2018.
