Junior Narendra Rao (born 27 June 1995) is a Fijian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ba in the Fiji National Football League.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Narendra Junior Rao | ||
| Date of birth | 27 June 1995 | ||
| Place of birth | Fiji | ||
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Attacking midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Ba | ||
| Number | 17 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Ba | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2012– | Ba | ||
| International career‡ | |||
| 2011 | Fiji U-17 | 4 | (2) |
| 2013–2015 | Fiji U-20 | 12 | (1) |
| 2017– | Fiji | 4 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15 December 2017 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 2 September 2017 | |||
Rao was educated at FSC Primary School and Ba Sangam College.[1]
Career edit
Rao started playing football when he was in secondary school. He joined Ba when he was 14 years old and he made his debut in 2012 when he was 16 years old.[2]
International career edit
Rao made his debut in the Fiji jersey at the 2011 OFC U-17 Championship. This tournament was unsuccessful for Fiji as they managed to win only one time, a 9–0 victory against American Samoa. Rao managed to score two goals himself. After the U17's Rao went on to play with U20's, something that turned out to be a little bit more successful. In 2013 they only managed a second spot, however at the 2014 OFC U-20 Championship they reached the first place. This meant that they had qualified for the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup. It was the first time that Fiji had qualified for a FIFA event. Rao played all games at the U20 World Cup, including in Fiji's historical 3–0 victory against Honduras.[3] In August 2017 he was called up for the Fijian national football team for two friendly matches in Indonesia. He made his debut on September 2, 2017 in a 0-0 draw against the Indonesia national football team.[4]
In July 2019 he was one of three players suspended for failing to turn up to the training camp to prepare for the 2019 Pacific Games.[5]
References edit
- ^ "Chip off the old block". Fiji Times. 10 April 2018. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
- ^ "Vakatalesau returns". Fiji Football Association. 12 January 2012. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
- ^ "Fiji U20s shock 3–0 victory over Honduras". Radio New Zealand. 4 June 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
- ^ "Match report Indonesia vs Fiji". Sky Sports. 2 September 2017. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
- ^ "3 national soccer reps suspended and fined for failing to turn up for Vodafone National team camp". Fiji Village. 2 July 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
External links edit
- Narendra Rao – FIFA competition record (archived)
- Narendra Rao at Soccerway
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