Goan Olympians !

Goans and Football go together! It's true that presently there is a decline in the attendance for the ISL matches all over India compared to its inception. This decline is much more noticeable for the home matches of FC Goa at PJN stadium, Fatorda.

In any sport it’s important to have role models who can inspire the next generations to come. We all know how Kapil Dev and the team that won the Cricket World Cup 1983 are still revered and flooded with adulation. From then on the popularity of Cricket in India soared to greater heights and the BCCI capitalized on the same to make it commercially viable; unfortunately the same cannot be said about football. 

How many of us are aware that India won the Asian Games way back in 1951, reached the semi-finals of the summer Olympics in 1956 and then again won the Asian Games in 1962? Thanks to Boney Kapoor, Zee-Studio and others, a movie titled ‘Maidaan’ was released recently and was running in all the theatres in India. It was based on the life of coach Syed Abdul Rahim, the architect of the golden period of Indian football from 1952 to 1962.  

It’s a movie which every football lover must watch. I decided to watch the movie 'Maidaan' at Multiplex Z Square in Vasco, but to my misfortune the show was cancelled due to a lack of audience. It was then that I decided to go to Inox in Panaji and this time to my relief, there were around 20 spectators and it was worth the trouble, travelling from Vasco to Panaji.

Despite the fact that the movie is about coach S.A. Rahim and his immense contribution to the success of Indian Football teams from 1952 to 1962, it was a matter of great pride to see the presence of two Goan footballers in the Indian squad. They are none other than the late Neville D’Souza and the late Fortunato Franco.

Neville D’Souza was born in the village of Assagao in Bardez on the 3^rd of August 1932 but had to move to Bombay with his family for better prospects, as was the case of so many other Goans in those days. He died in Bombay, in March 1980, at the age of 47 years. He figured in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia and was the first Indian and Asian to score a hat-trick, beating Australia 4-2. India reached the semi- finals of the Melbourne Olympics but lost to Yugosalvia  4-1 and then lost to Bulgaria 3-0 in the bronze medal match thus standing 4^th in the 1956 Olympics.  

Fortunato Franco was born in the village of Colvale in Bardez in 1937 and  thereafter shifted to Bombay along with his family. He figured in the 1960 Rome Olympics and also the Jakarta Asian Games in 1962. At the Rome Olympics, India lost to Hungary 2-1, drew with France 1-1, and lost to Peru 3-1 in the final group stage. Despite the group stage ouster, India could still walk with their head held high for the splendid performance. Thereafter, India created history by winning the Asian Games 1962 at Jakarta beating South Korea 2-1 in the finals with  around one lakh spectators and very hostile conditions. After Franco's retirement from the Tata Company in Bombay, he lived in Colva, Goa where he died due to covid-19 in May 2021 at the age of 84 years.

‘Maidaan’ is a must see movie for all football enthusiasts and promoters. It’s important to   acknowledge the contribution of the past football heroes of our small state of Goa, and their legacy must be preserved for future generations, which will in turn inspire current footballers. It would be most appropriate to show this fantastic movie to all the young footballers in schools, footballers training at GFDC centres and those with clubs registered with GFA having a grassroots programme, in order to motivate and inspire them.

Some may say that the two Goan players have not contributed much in Goa but a Goan is a Goan, no matter where he lives or from where he contributes.

Let us take a bow to late Neville D Souza and late Fortunato Franco!

 

 

Inter-Village Football- the backbone of Goan Football

                                                              Late Fr Gervasio Pinto

Inter-village football in Goa is very unique and is hard to find elsewhere in India. Inter-village football played a big part in producing quality footballers and contributed immensely to Goan football in the seventies and eighties, if not earlier. Is it still as relevant as before?  If not, do we need to introspect and make necessary changes?

On Goa Liberation Day, the 19^th of December 2023 I had the fortune to attend the finals of the inter-village tournament organised by Guardian Angel SC, in memory of late Fr. Gervasio Pinto. Who is Gervasio Pinto? For the unawares, Fr Pinto happens to be the founder member of Guardian Angel SC and the then principal of the Guardian Angel High school in the seventies. It was Fr. William Robert Lyons, a British priest, who introduced Football in Goa in 1883. Since then, no one can deny the fact that several other priests have actively promoted football in the villages all over Goa, for which they have not received due recognition.

In Curchorem, popularly known as Sanvordem in the seventies, it was the late Fr. Gervasio Pinto who promoted football in a big way. Guardian Angel High school had boarders mostly from Salcete and it was compulsory for them to play football at the Figueiredo Ground which was about a kilometre away from the school, many thanks to the Figueiredo family for the kind gesture of donating the land to Guardian Angel High School. Seeing them play regularly was what inspired and motivated many of us those days. I was eleven years old when Guardian Angel Sports Club was established in 1972 and within another six years at the age of seventeen, I had the opportunity to play for the club in the Senior Division organised by the Goa Football Association. Thanks to the late Fr Gervasio Pinto, Guardian Angel High School and Guardian Angel Sports Club excelled in the game of Football. Thanks to the President of Guardian Angel SC, Mr. Jhoncy Fernandes, being actively supported by the Currchorem MLA Mr. Nilesh Cabral, the organisation of the inter-village tournament by Guardian Angel SC, is a fitting tribute to late Fr. Gervasio Pinto, the then beloved principal of the school and the founder member of the Guardian Angel SC. The club, having completed fifty years in 2022 and presently playing in the Goa Professional League, is a matter of great pride to all the residents of Curchorem and Sanvordem.

For me watching the finals brought back fond memories. So much has changed over the years, the well-decorated stage, the live music, the colourful flags all around, the  beautiful individual and team trophies, but unfortunately nothing seems to have changed on two important fronts. The playing surface has not changed since my playing days in the late seventies. Being a hard ground, one requires good skills to play controlled and attractive football at the Figueiredo Ground. I was disappointed to see that it’s not just the infrastructure which has not changed over the years but football too, dished out by the two finalists: Guardian Angel SC and Curtorim Gymkhana. The players failed to control the ball thus losing possession very easily. Scoring goals is an art requiring quick thinking, good timing and shooting with awareness of the goalposts. The players lacked the composure and skill, failing to score and the game ended in a draw which had to be decided via the tie breaker in favour of Guardian Angel SC.

Inter-village tournaments should be a platform for young players to showcase their talent and grow in confidence on the path to Professional Football. For this to happen, there has to be more discipline, both from the organisational side, as well as from the teams participating in the tournaments. A team arriving late is a norm rather than an exception. The duration of play is very important for the development of the players. The minimum duration of a match should not be less than 70, if not more, as per the GFA Private Tournament Rules. But that remains only on paper most of the time. Moreover, the grounds are much smaller in size than the standard ground of play i.e. 115 X 74 yards recommended for professional football. With shorter duration and smaller grounds, the players are thus deprived of playing adequately, both with and without the ball, which hampers their growth.  As such, many a time after playing inter-village football, the players and teams go home with a false sense of satisfaction of having played well but when faced with tougher opponents on a standard field of play and duration of 90 minutes, they will realise that they have not progressed. Therefore, if not the infrastructure, at least the duration of the inter-village matches should not be compromised. It’s time to be more disciplined in organising inter-village tournaments and this needs to be done with the objective of developing the players in mind.

According to me, the Referees have a big role to play in maintaining discipline among the organizers, as well as the teams participating in inter-village tournaments, so far as the duration of the match is concerned. GFA should pay more attention to the duration of play reported by the Referees in their match reports. Organisers who do not adhere to the minimum duration of 70 minutes as per the Private Tournament Rules should be sanctioned with fines and repeat offenders could even be denied permission to conduct inter-village tournaments. There is no substitute for discipline, if we are to progress in the game of football. To improve the quality of play, it's time the inter-village teams engage a qualified coach, even if it is a minimum D License. Players coming together just before or on the day of the match, with a senior player acting as a guide and coach, is not enough if we are to progress and lift up our level of play. Prior planning, execution and post-mortem of the matches played are the essentials of modern football.  In GFA, we have a well-qualified Technical Coordinator in Mariano Dias and further we have one of the best Technical Committees ever, with Mr Savio Medeira as its Chairman, Mr Armando Colaco and Derrick Pereira among the other members. I am sure they will play a big role in introducing coach education, thus bringing in the much required awareness and demands of modern football in the inter-village games.

Further, it is important for players to develop their individual skills.  All top players are known to be practicing beyond the team training sessions, to improve their individual skills in trapping, passing, shooting, heading and set pieces. Very often we talk about Goa’s glorious past and the individual brilliance of the players of the sixties, seventies and eighties! They excelled because besides team training, they practiced individually with devotion, discipline and hunger for success which unfortunately, is missing among our youth.

There cannot be development of footballers when football is not played throughout the season! Competitive football is what drives footballers to excel in the game.  Inter-village tournaments give the much required competitive football to our youngsters to play round the season and thus compensates for the shortfall of competitive football in our official games/leagues organised by GFA. Most of the village clubs depend on organising the inter-village tournaments to sustain their teams for year-round activities. Inter-village football is thriving in Salcete and Bardez and therefore the majority of successful players and clubs come from these two zones. Inter-village Football serves as a great motivator for  the young to take up this beautiful game. In Mormugao and Ilhas, inter-village football has taken a backseat and this is the reason why the players as well as the clubs, are lagging behind the other zones. Therefore, inter-village football is considered as the backbone of Goan Football.

It’s time to introspect, change and strengthen the backbone!