ISLW

Bio

The highly promising Tata Football Academy cadet joined Churchill Brothers in 2006 and blossomed as an attacking right back, good on the overlap under the tutelage of Karim Bencherifa. The potent combination that was moulded by the Moroccan gaffer at Varca village in South Goa finally brought home the I-League title in 2008-09 although Bencherifa had departed and the credit went to Zoran Djordjevic. Naoba won a few more titles with the Red Machines and then the Red & Golds whom he joined in 2010 which includes the Federation Cup, IFA Shield, Durand Cup amongst others.

At the international level, the Manipuri has been a regular with the India under-23s, figuring in Sukhwinder Singh’s squad that won the 2009 SAFF championship in Dhaka; he was also part of the 2010 AFC Challenge Cup campaign. Last year saw him jot up a total of 377 minutes in 5 outings for the Dynamos; a tally that he will doubtless look to exceed this season.