Scouting Report - Baoringdao Bodo: Odisha FC's star in the making

The 20-year-old winger is one of the highly-rated young prospects in the country.

Baoringdao Bodo has emerged as one of the most exciting attacking talents in Indian football in recent years, earning the reputation of being the Indian Neymar Jr from many in the fraternity.

The 20-year-old has already garnered a lot of experience, playing for a number of reputed clubs over the years. Bodo will embark on a new journey at Indian Super League (ISL) side Odisha FC soon and aims to take a big step forward to becoming a household name in Indian football.

Scouting Report

Name: Baoringdao Bodo

Age: 20

Position: Winger/Attacking Midfielder

Height: 1.68m

Background

Hailing from the town of Haflong, Assam, Baoringdao Bodo discovered his footballing talent at a very young age. His father enrolled him into the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Guwahati academy in 2011 to further hone his skills as a player and Bodo started to take steps forward after that.

After a few years at the SAI academy, he joined the AIFF regional academy in Kalyani and trained under experienced coach Gautam Ghosh. Bodo played at the India U-14, U-16 and U-19 levels during his time at the academy and was eventually also promoted to the AIFF Elite Academy.

Since leaving the academy, he’s had stints at various prominent Indian clubs. He started off with Chennaiyin FC, prior to spending a few seasons on loan at Minerva Punjab and Gokulam Kerala. He also played sporadically for Kerala Blasters, before enjoying another loan stint at Bengaluru United in the I-League 2nd Division last season.

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Wherever he’s played at, Bodo left an impressive mark with his splendid work with the ball. It’s due to his predigious talent that Odisha FC decided to snap him up for the upcoming season.

Positives

Bodo is definitely among the most unique attacking prospects in Indian football, as he is extremely skillful on the ball. The 20-year-old loves to romp forward with elegance, having enough dribbling ability to cause nightmares for defenders.

He is blessed with impressive pace, allowing him to get the better off full-backs and is also versatile enough to slot in on either left or right wing. Apart from his blistering pace, Baoringdao Bodo has a lot of trickery in his arsenal and posesses a creative side that allows him to create opportunities not many others can.

Aspects To Improve

One thing which is holding back the youngster is his final product. The 20-year-old often manages to dribble his way into a lot of promising areas, but fluffs his lines when the big opportunities arise. He must be more creative in finding chances for his teammates and back up his excellent work on the wings by being more consistent with the final ball.

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Baoringdao Bodo also needs to find his lethal goalscoring touch to reach the next level. The most goals he’s scored is for the Kerala Blasters Reserves team in the I-League 2nd Division and he’s really struggled to find the net in the top divisions. He has the skills to score against prominent oppositions, but just needs to improve his finishing ability.

Similar to

Bodo shows shades of India international Jackichand Singh in the way he often speeds past defenders down the wing. Once he finds the accuracy of the former FC Goa star, perhaps the 20-year-old can be as successful as him in the ISL.

Future

The youngster still has a long road ahead of him due to his age, but needs to pounce upon the chances presented to him. However, once he finds the consistency to mix with his menacing talent, Baoringdao Bodo should become one of the more prominent wingers in Indian football.