Kuwait: Away from Goa, Goans have excelled all over the world in every field - science, technology, art, culture, etc, and football which is one of the highest watermark of Goan identity.
Among footballers, the name of Tiago Fernandes hailing from Sodovim, Verna brings to mind nostalgic memories of the golden era of Goan football.
He was one of the best midfield-strikers and scored plenty of goals ever since his school days at Holy Spirit Institute, Margao.
𝗧𝗜𝗔𝗚𝗢 – 𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗬 𝗬𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗦
Born to Cristalina and late Socorro Fernandes, the youngest among 2 brothers, Tiago started his football career with Pax of Nagoa in the 3rd division Goan League, playing for 2 seasons in ‘82 to ’84.
Soon, Tiago had an offer from Vasco Sport Club; he played for the famous club between ‘84 to ‘87 and later went on to play for Dempo in ‘87 to ’89.
But it was for donning the colors of Salgoacar SC for 3 seasons from 1989 to 1992 that Tiago holds closest to his heart.
Tiago remains ever indebted to his former coaches Agnelo Fernandes (Vasco Sports Club), Mutawalli, and T. Shanmugam (Salgaocar) who groomed him into a star player.
Tiago also represented Goa at the Santosh Trophy in 1990.
Throughout his playing career in Goa, Tiago was a regular feature during off-season for his home team Verna Sports Club in inter-village matches.
Greener pastures saw a young Tiago leave football in Goa while he was still at his best, and embark to Kuwait in December 1992.
𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 𝗜𝗡 𝗞𝗨𝗪𝗔𝗜𝗧
In Kuwait, Tiago continued his passion playing for various teams such as Bayan Boys (1 season), Kuwait Goans (5 years), Colva United (4 years), Navelim (4 years) and also played for Royal XI, United Friends, Saligao, Goa Maroons, Santos United, AVC, United Goans, Skynet, 3 Kings Verna, etc.
He works for Bayan Palace Diwan Amiri at the VVIP section of Kuwait Airport, and still kicks around on weekends.
Tiago is happily married to Liby and they have a daughter named Trisca.
As a message to upcoming footballers Tiago says, “𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯.”