An Indian immigrant who travelled to the US with his widowed mother and three siblings when he was just 15 is living the American Dream. Elected president of the United States Soccer Federation on February 10, besting an eightcandidate field that featured World Cup-winner Hope Solo, 62-year-old Carlos Cordeiro is set to occupy a coveted position in world football. Born in Mumbai to a Goan father and Colombian mother,
Cordeiro's grandparents stayed in Goa all their lives while he, along with his siblings, attended Cathedral & John Connon School in Mumbai until 1971when they migrated to the US. “I have had football blood in my veins for as long as I can remember. With a Colombian mother and a Goan father, nothing less is expected,” Cordeiro, a former Goldman Sachs executive, told TOI in an exclusive interview.
Cordeiro is already a member of the influential Fifa Stakeholders Committee and the CONCACAF Council, the body that governs the sport in North America.
Cordeiro's father — Pedrito Francisco Souza Cordeiro— and his six siblings were all born in Saligao in North Goa. His father passed away in a car accident in the summer of 1967 while returning to Goa by road from what was then Bombay. His uncle, Albert Souza Cordeiro, is the only sibling still alive and resides in Saligao to this day. Cordeiro takes the reins at the federation at a difficult time for American soccer. The men's national team's failure to qualify for this year's World Cup led to the resignation of Sunil Gulati, another Indian, and now presents Cordeiro with a chance to set right the structural problems. “While the top of the US soccer pyramid has prospered, this success has not been felt equally across our federation,” he said. “I've dedicated the past 10 years of my life to USSF as an unpaid volunteer because I'm a passionate lifelong fan of the game and believe we can take the sport to new heights in America,” said Cordeiro.
Cordeiro is already a member of the influential Fifa Stakeholders Committee and the CONCACAF Council, the body that governs the sport in North America.
Cordeiro's father — Pedrito Francisco Souza Cordeiro— and his six siblings were all born in Saligao in North Goa. His father passed away in a car accident in the summer of 1967 while returning to Goa by road from what was then Bombay. His uncle, Albert Souza Cordeiro, is the only sibling still alive and resides in Saligao to this day. Cordeiro takes the reins at the federation at a difficult time for American soccer. The men's national team's failure to qualify for this year's World Cup led to the resignation of Sunil Gulati, another Indian, and now presents Cordeiro with a chance to set right the structural problems. “While the top of the US soccer pyramid has prospered, this success has not been felt equally across our federation,” he said. “I've dedicated the past 10 years of my life to USSF as an unpaid volunteer because I'm a passionate lifelong fan of the game and believe we can take the sport to new heights in America,” said Cordeiro.
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