PANAJI
Sporting Clube de Goa have gone into mourning at the start of the New Year after the sudden passing away of their young player Avrhisto Fernandes under tragic circumstances at his Saligao residence early morning on Monday.
The 21-year-old midfielder, who had joined the Flaming Oranje on a five-year contract at the beginning of 2016-2017 season, was part of the core squad that played in the Goa Professional League
last season.
"He was an up and coming player; quiet and shy. He was very disciplined and always gave his 100% for the team, even during training," Sporting Clube coach Mateus Costa said. "He was one of our main players. It's a big loss for us."
Before joining Sporting Clube, Avrhisto played for Calangute Association in the Pro League in the 2015-16 season. Born on October 10, 1996, Avrhisto started his grassroots football under coach Alex Alvares at Chubby Cheeks High School, Pilerne. Later Alex also played a crucial role in getting the youngster back into shape following a knee operation in 2014-2015 season.
Avrhisto joined Brazil Football Academy in season 2011-2012. In season 2012-2-13, he played for Sporting Clube U-18 under coach Severino Fernandes and then joined Sesa Football Academy as their U-20 player in the Goa Pro League in season 2014-2015.
Avrhisto was a player with prodigious talent having good technique, passing and shooting ability. He was shaping up into an excellent creative midfielder. He represented Goa at the U-16 BC Roy National Football Tournament in the season 2010-2011. He also had the honour to be the only Goa player selected amongst the six Indian players for an exposure trip to FC Bayern Munich in Germany sponsored by Bajaj Allianz in 2011.
In a club statement, Sporting Clube manager Angelo Albuquerque stated that Avrhisto was soft-spoken, polite and well-mannered in every sense and he will be missed by all, especially his coaches, players and also the Club management. Sporting Clube president Peter Vaz, expressing his shock, said that in the tragic passing away of Avrhisto, the club had lost one of its most promising and talented prospects who he felt would have one day made it to the national squad.
