Divikesh Deo: a Fijian building his career in New Zealand

Fiji football has been improving over the past years. The average level of local leagues increased and many players are having the opportunity to play outside the country. The most famous name is surely Roy Krishna who last played in India.

New Zealand is surely the biggest door for Fijian players – many players go to New Zealand every single year to play the winter football season in the country. Some of them perform really well and are given the opportunity to play in the ISPS Handa Premiership like 24-year-old left back Shuiab Khan.

However there are dozens of players that build a career in the winter leagues and these players are oftenly forgotten by football fans like Divikesh Deo. Deo is a 25-year-old goalkeeper that built his career in New Zealand playing the winter leagues.

Currently playing for Bucklands Beach AFC in the Lotto NRFL Men’s Division 1 – the second tier of winter football season in Auckland region – the Fijian keeper is playing in the country since 2013 when he joined Papatoetoe AFC. Since then he played for some clubs like Ellerslie AFC before joining his current club in 2019.

The biggest moment of his career is surely when he was part of the Fijian U-20 squad that played 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand – Fijian first ever appearence in a FIFA World Cup. Deo was the only of the 21 players who was playing outside Fiji by that time.

Deo has never had an opportunity to represent his country at senior level. However he keeps his path as a footballer in New Zealand. The 1.99m keeper is ready for the upcoming Lotto NRFL Men’s Division 1 that is set to kick-off on Saturday.