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Mandar Rao Dessai overcomes personal tragedy to shine in ISL
The 28-year-old from Mapusa was aware of the consequences: going through another 14 days of quarantine upon returning to the bubble and missing quite a few matches in the period for his new club after switching from FC Goa.
In the wee hours of December 3, Mandar Rao Dessai learnt about the death of his father, Dattarao, in Goa. Away from his family despite being in Goa, the Mumbai City FC defender had to make the difficult decision of leaving the Indian Super League (ISL) bio bubble set up for all teams. A phone call to head coach Sergio Lobera had to be made.
“It was early morning and mostly everyone was asleep. I called the coach and consulted him about leaving. He said that I should go,” Dessai said.
The 28-year-old from Mapusa was aware of the consequences: going through another 14 days of quarantine upon returning to the bubble and missing quite a few matches in the period for his new club after switching from FC Goa. Dessai thus wished to return the same evening after paying the last respects to his father. “But the coach told me, ‘Be with your family’. So I stayed with my mother at home and came back after five days,” he said.
Missing four games in December, Dessai returned to action on January 2 and in the next match assisted one of the goals that helped Mumbai City beat Bengaluru FC 3-1. “It was a difficult moment for me. My father always wanted me to do my work first and leave everything else aside. But it’s not easy to do that in such situations. Still, I came back as soon as possible so that I could start playing football again,” Dessai, who has been one of the most consistent faces in the ISL with 107 appearances so far, said.
Staying in bio bubbles of this pandemic world has seen instances of sportspersons putting aside personal loss to play on—be it Mandeep Singh during the Indian Premier League in the UAE or Mohammed Siraj in India's tour of Australia last year. In this ISL season too, Kerala Blasters' Spanish head coach Kibu Vicuna lost his mother in December but chose to stay back in Goa. Bengaluru FC's Dimas Delgado, however, flew back to Spain on January 17 after the death of his father. Delgado has since returned to India and is currently in quarantine.
For Dessai, the most challenging period was being alone in his hotel room for two weeks after returning from grieving with his loved ones. “That was the most difficult part, being inside alone for that long. Other than my workouts, I couldn’t do anything else. I would watch some motivational videos and meditate, trying to recollect all the good memories of my father. I can never forget those things. It was really important for me to think about those memories so that I could push myself more in those days,” Dessai said.
“It was a very difficult moment for him,” Lobera said of Dessai in a media interaction. “But I’m glad to have players and human beings like Mandar, because it’s not an easy situation. And the professionalism and attitude that he has shown after coming back, it makes me very proud.”
Moving to FC Goa from Dempo for the inaugural ISL season in 2014, Dessai blossomed under Zico as an attacking option and then under Lobera as a more defensive player. He captained the Goa outfit to the final of the 2018-19 ISL season, and last year saw his team top the league standings and seal the AFC Champions League spot.
Throughout his growth as a footballer, he had one man’s back and never-ending encouragement. “My father was the happiest in all my achievements. Last year when we qualified for the AFC Champions League, he celebrated for a week,” Dessai said. “When I started playing football, whatever I needed and whenever I had to go for training, he was always there. Even when I had a bad day on the ground, he would tell me it doesn’t matter, you can do better than this. Those motivating words helped me grow as a player. He didn’t have the knowledge of football, but he kept pushing me so that I can achieve things in my life.”
Dessai wants to continue achieving things with his new Mumbai team—another No. 1 finish, another AFC Champions League spot and the ISL trophy. And even though the emotions of his personal loss are still raw, that he was back to football and aiming for those goals acted as a welcome distraction.
“It’s not easy to bounce back from a situation like this and switch on completely. But when I returned to the field, it felt good. I could spend some time with my team-mates and start playing the game. And after that we have played some really good football and kept winning matches. So that really helped me,” Dessai said.
