Adrian D'Souza
| Adrian D'souza | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Adrian D'souza. |
| Also known as | The Rush |
| Born | March 24, 1984 |
| Occupation(s) | Professional Hockey Player |
Adrian Albert D'souza (born March 24, 1984 in Mumbai, Maharashtra) is a field hockey goalkeeper from India, who made is international debut for the Men's National Team in January 2004 during the Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Adrian has more than 100 International Caps for his country in all competitions. D'Souza represented his native country at the 2004 Summer Olympics, where India finished in seventh place. Regarded as one of the most innovative and daring goal-keepers of recent times, Adrian bought the rushing technique to the hockey field. Adrian was the captain of the India Junior Hockey team, which participated in the Rabobank 2005 Junior Hockey World Cup (Under 21s). His dream is to win an Olympic medal for the country.
Adrian has recently got the Olympic rings tattooed on his torso.
Background
Adrian was born in Malad a suburb in Mumbai, Maharashtra. He has done his schooling from St Anne's High School, Orlem, Malad. He was always active in sports and a very good football player. Hockey, happened to Adrian as an accident, because the regular Goal-Keeper of the team did not report for a game. Adrian played as the keeper, had a broken tooth and promised never to play keeper again. But his coach was impressed and Adrian has since never looked back. He got his first break in the Air-India Hockey Academy as a 16 year old. After 3 years Adrian was representing India at the Athens Olympics.
By the age of 23, Adrian was capped more than 100 times and played in all major field hockey tournaments, including the 2006 Hockey World Cup, 2006 Asian Games, 2007 Asia Cup and 2 Champions Trophies.
Adrian prefers to wear his lucky number 12 jersey while on the field. He also gets his helmets custom made by OBO. The designs are always made by him.
Adrian D'Souza also plays in the Premier Hockey League for the Maratha Warriors.
Hockey career highlights
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men’s Field Hockey | ||
Competitor for  India
| ||
| Champions Challenge | ||
| Bronze | 2007 Boom | Team Competition |
| Asia Cup | ||
| Gold | 2007 Men's Asia Cup | 2007 Chennai |
| Sultan Azlan Shah | ||
| Bronze | 2006 Sultan Azlan Shah | 2006 Kuala Lumpur |
| Silver | 2008 Sultan Azlan Shah | 2008 Ipoh |
Was then a part of the Junior India team that participated in the 6 Nation Junior Champions Challenge at Gniezno, Poland in 2003. Was awarded Best Goal-keeper.
Represented Senior India at the 2004 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Kuala Lumpur.
Was a part of the Junior India team that won the 2004 Junior Asia Cup in Karachi, Pakistan. Was awarded the Best Goal-Keeper.
Represented Senior India at a 4 Nation Tournament in Japan.
Represented Senior India at the 4 Nation Rabobank Trophy at Amstelveen, Netherlands.
Participated in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games for the Indian Hockey Team.
Was selected to represent India in the 4 match (bilateral) Test series between India and Pakistan in Sep-Oct 2004 to be held in Pakistan. Was awarded the Best Goal-Keeper for the Pakistan leg.
Was also awarded the Best Player of the Series for the entire 8 Match Test series between India and Pakistan played in Oct’2004.
Represented India in the prestigious 6 Nation Champions Trophy Challenge In Lahore, Pakistan in December 2004.
Was nominated for the prize of the World's Most Promising Young player Award for the year 2004 by the FIH.
Was a part of the Maratha Warriors team for the inaugural Premier Hockey League 2005.
Represented Junior India in the 6 Nation invitational tournament in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2005.
Was awarded India’s “Player of the Year” for the year 2004 by the Indian Hockey year book.
Was the captain of the Junior Indian Hockey Team at the 2004 Rabo World Junior Hockey Championship held at Rotterdam, Netherlands. India finished 4th in the tournament.
Was awarded the HISA ( Hero Indian Sports Academy ) award for best Indian Hockey player of the year for 2004.
Participated in the inaugural Super League organized by the Pakistan Hockey Federation. Represented Baloch Lions and was awarded the 2nd Best Goal-Keeper award.
Participated in the Champions Trophy in December 2006 in Chennai, India.
Represented India in the 6 match bi-lateral series with Pakistan in February 2006 and the Commonwealth Games 2006 in Melbourne, Australia.
Represented India at the 17th Sultan Azlan Shah tournament in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. India won a bronze medal.
Represented India at the FIH World Cup 2006 in Monchengladbach, Germany.
Represented India at the Doha Asian Games 2006 in Doha, Qatar.
Selected to represent Maratha Warriors in the 2007 PHL.
Adrian was part of the squad that won Bronze medal at the 2007 Champions Challenge in Boom, Belgium.
Adrian was also part of the Gold Medal winning Indian hockey team at the 2007 Men's Asia Cup.
Adrian was then took part in his first stint in for an International Club. Adrian played for Koln club (Marienburger SC de:Marienburger SC) in Germany.
Was selected to represent Maratha Warriors in PHL 2008.
Due to a hamstring injury Adrian had to pull out from the Olympic Qualifier camp. India, unfortunately could not beat Great Britain in the final and missed the Olympics for the first time in 80 years. Adrian, along with Mom and Dad watched the game in Mumbai. At the end of the game, Adrian was devastated. He could not believe it was happening. He never ever dreamt that India would not make it. But the loss, made his stronger and he now dreams to play 2012 and be the best in the business.
Adrian was back after a break of 2 months and was selected for the 2 legged 4 Nation tournament in Perth and Darwin. The tournament also included hosts Australia, China and Asian power-house South Korea. Adrian was back to doing what he does best. Impressing one and all, Adrian was the number 1 again. Even though India did not have a successful trip down under, Adrian was feeling good about his form.
The 2008 Sultan Azlan Shah, was all Adrian. It ranks as one of his top 2 performances for India. The other being the 2005 India-Pakistan series. The Sohail Abbas-Adrian Dsouza confrontation was unforgettable then.
Adrian was spectacular and was the most important factor in India making it to the final. His performance against Pakistan was a classic piece of how goal-keeping under pressure is to be performed. Adrian foiled attack after attack. The Pakistan team needed only a draw to make it through to the finals. They were 1-2 trailing and had 10 minutes to score that one goal that would put them into the finals. But between Pakistan's route to the final and India's loss stood 1 strong wall. Adrian, made at least 5 sure goal scoring saves. The most crucial coming when 45 seconds were left. But, unlike previous occasions where India usually concede a goal in the dying seconds to leave the fans heart-broken, this was different. No disappointments today. Adrian took India to the brink of the final. India needed only a win against the host team. Malaysia lay at the bottom of the table and the final was almost a certainty.
Adrian's performance was lauded by one and all. As a matter of fact even the Pakistan coach admitted it was Adrian who made the difference. Some quotes by Naved Alam after the match. "He gave you the victory."
"We have lost because of goalkeeping. We lost because our strikers are not doing their job. We had many chances to equalise and go ahead. I am concerned about our strikers."
Adrian had a great game against the home nation, Malaysia. Bringing some crucial saves at critical moments, India kept the score 2-0 until the last minute. That's when Malaysia got a penalty corner and scored. That's when the game was over and India had made it to the final of the Sultan Azlan Shah after 13 long years. It was a moment of joy for the team. No single hockey fan, gave the boys a chance to make it to the finals. And after, the losses in the first 2 games, the fans as well as the critics looked forward to a last place finish by the Indian team.
Against all odds, the Indian team was playing for Gold. They took the lead in the 11th minute, but conceded a goal in the 15th minute. Adrian kept his good form going, and bringing some wonderful saves to keep India in the contest. India missed 4 penalty corners. The game ended 1-1 in full-time. In extra time, India conceded an unnecessary foul just outside the circle. Argentina took advantage of the free hit and scored in the third minute of extra time to seal victory and gold.
Adrian recently played for an International XI team against the Maratha Warriors. Playing as a forward, Adrian scored for the International XI. His team included players like Harinder Singh (ex-India coach), Arjun Hallapa, Edgar Jr (in Goal).
In June 2012, Adrian was suspended for one year by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) for violating an anti-doping rule.[1]
References
- ↑ "Adrian D'Souza". The Hindu (Chennai, India). June 19, 2012. Retrieved 2012-06-20.
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