Óscar Sonejee

His parents were both Indian but had decided to emigrate from their home in Delhi in the 1970s with their first two sons before Sonejee was born.

After living in Paris, his father moved to Barcelona where he spent a year.

However, he quickly looked to move on after believing the city was too suited to tourists and instead moved to Andorra, a small principality in the Pyrenees mountains, on the recommendation of other local Hindu merchants.

Óscar Sonejee Masand (born 26 March 1976) is an Andorran former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

He began his club career as a youth player with Sant Julià before playing for several teams based in Andorra, including three spells with FC Andorra and three with Lusitanos.

He also spent four years with FC Santa Coloma, helping the side win two Primera Divisió titles.

Sonejee was born on 26 March 1976 in Santa Coloma, Andorra.

After settling in the country, his wife and two sons moved to live with him and the family remained there once it gained independence in March 1993.

Sonejee was born soon after, being the only member of the family born outside India.

Sonejee's first sporting participation was in winter sports, traditionally more popular in the mountainous region.

However, in sixth grade, he played football for the first time and quickly took up the game.

He speaks fluent Catalan and Hindi and can speak some English.

Sonejee began his career as a youth player with his local side Sant Julià.

His early performances for Andorra at youth level led to him being offered a trial with La Liga side Valencia after being spotted by one of the club's scouts.

However, the trial was ultimately unsuccessful.

He instead joined FC Andorra, an Andorran team that competes in the Spanish football league system.

Sonejee began his career at the same time as Andorra declared independence and formed its own footballing governing body, the Andorran Football Federation (AFF) in 1994.

As such, he was present in his nation's youth sides as they began competing in international matches.

He made his international debut for Andorra in 1997 during a defeat to Estonia and scored the goal in 2000 that secured the nation's first ever point in a competitive international fixture when they drew 1–1 with Malta.

He featured eleven times for the club in the Segunda División B during the 1997–98 season as they suffered relegation.

He made his international debut in 1997 in a 4–1 friendly loss to Estonia at the Kuressaare linnastaadion in Andorra's second international fixture following their independence.

In his second game three days later, he scored his first goal, in a defeat by the same margin to Latvia at the Daugava Stadium in Riga.

In February 2000, he scored for Andorra, helping the side gain their first ever point in an international fixture by drawing 1–1 with Malta in the 2000 Rothmans International Tournament.

He captained the team for the first time on 12 October 2005 against Armenia, scoring an own goal in a 0–3 home defeat in 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification.

Despite making his debut, Sonejee was still eligible to represent his parents' country India as he did not possess an Andorran passport at the time.

He later admitted that, had he received a call up, he would have switched allegiance to India but stated "since I saw nobody was interested, I decided to continue playing for Andorra, and obtained that passport."

In 2008, Sonejee was approached over a potential move to his parents' homeland India, receiving offers from East Bengal and Churchill Brothers.

He originally signed a deal with East Bengal but later decided to accept the offer from Goa-based Churchill Brothers as he believed the culture in the city was more European based and would be easier to acclimatise to and the club was closer to the home of his wife's parents.

However, he later discovered that his original contract with East Bengal was still valid and both clubs claimed ownership.

When Churchill attempted to register Sonejee, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) blocked the move as they had already received a registration request by East Bengal.

The situation eventually led to Sonejee backing out of a move to India, having spent a month training with Churchill, and instead signing for Santa Coloma in his home nation.

The most successful period of his career came during a four-year spell with FC Santa Coloma between 2008 and 2012 where he helped the side to win back-to-back Primera Divisió titles during the 2009–10 and 2010–11 seasons.

He also won two Copa Constitució titles in 2009 and 2012.

He went on to become his country's most capped international player until 2015 when his record was surpassed by Ildefons Lima and was the first Andorran player to reach 100 international caps.

He finished his career with 106 caps and four goals for the Andorra national team, placing him second to Ildefons Lima in both categories.

After returning to his first team Sant Julià in 2015, Sonejee undertook his coaching badges alongside his playing career, obtaining a UEFA A and B Licence.

He returned to Lusitanos the following year after being convinced by coach Raul Canete to postpone his retirement for another season.

Between 2016 and 2017, he managed the Andorra under-17 side.

He retired from playing at the age of 40 in January 2017 during his third spell with Lusitanos.

However, in January 2017, he officially announced his retirement from playing at the age of 40.