When one thinks of Anas Edathodika, the first thing that comes to the mind is – a very solid, no nonsense defender! One who always plays with his heart on his sleeve, one who is always willing to put his body on the line to stop anything and one who’ll give his all every single time for the team!

Hailing from the hotbed of football in Kerala – Malappuram, this 26 year old has come up the hard way into pursuing a passion and a job in football. As a youngster, Anas, the son of a car driver, performed a fine balancing act, juggling academics at Kondotty’s EMEA College and football along with his auto-runs around town.

The Keralite began taking football seriously only when he was in the tenth grade and was called in for representing the Malappuram Under-14 team. Thereafter the youngster started following football seriously and continued playing the game in college. His fortunes took a turn for the better one day, when former Indian goalkeeper Feroz Sherif saw the youngster playing in an inter-collegiate game. Sherif was the national Under-17 goalkeeping coach and he advised Anas to attend the Mumbai FC trials.

As a relatively unknown player, Anas thus went on to join Mumbai FC in 2007. However soon his die-hard attitude coupled with his strong tackling and anticipation of play helped bring his talent to the fore and also helped Mumbai FC in winning promotion to the I-League from second Division. Having played out his four year contract with Mumbai FC, Edathodika decided to move from Mumbai FC as he felt the need for a new challenge. The solid, no-nonsense defender decided to join Pune FC on a two year contract at the beginning of the 2011-12 season.

The 5’11” heighted ex-Mumbai FC player is also a mean man-marker and is an excellent header of the ball. What further appeals to the Pune FC faithful is the optimum fitness levels which Keralite maintains, meaning that he seldom misses a match, something that keenly attracted the club towards him.

During his first season with the Red Lizards, Anas featured mostly alongside his defensive partner Chika Wali forming a formidable partnership with the Nigerian. His form at Pune FC earned him a call to the National Camp but unfortunately he missed out on the final squad.

Anas cemented his reputation as a solid-no-nonsense hard tackling defender during his second season at Pune FC! Starting all games in the I-League and being substituted only once, he was rightly adjudged the “Man of Steel” at the end of the 2012-13 season. He clocked an astounding 2326 out of a possible 2340 minutes in the entire season! The sturdy defender led the backline which conceded only 26 goals (third least amount of goals) helping Pune FC finish runners-up in the league. He also picked up just one yellow card during the season – a rarity for a defender!

Anas’s on field performances, passion and commitment won him the prestigious “Pune FC Player of the Year 2012-13″ making him the first Indian player to do so. The highlight of his career was being a part of the side that played English Premier League side Blackburn Rovers FC in the historic match at Pune (7th October, 2011).

Anas whose favourite team is Arsenal FC nevertheless idolises Man Utd defender Nemanja Vidic and loves listening to David Guetta and Rihanna in his free time. His dream is to play for the Indian national team one day.

His qualities as a defender and attitude were best summed up by his then Kerala Santosh Trophy coach M.M Jacob, who said, “He is a very tough player and someone who doesn’t leave a ball even in practice”.

Well, as each good team has a very solid, reliable centre-back – Barcelona has Puyol, Man Utd have Vidic, Chelsea have Terry; the fans can proudly say that Pune FC have Anas!