Goan football at its best.
𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝟭𝟵𝟵𝟳 - 𝗙𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝘂𝗽 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹
𝗘𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗹 𝘃𝘀 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗴𝗮𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗿
𝗩𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲: Salt Lake Stadium, Culcutta
𝗔𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲: 120,000
I am proud of being a part of the iconic champions. It was one of the best moments of my football life.
An era of great footballers like Derick Pereira, Savio Medeira, Bruno Coutinho, Baichung Bhutia (East Bengal), Chima Okerie (Mohun Bagan), Papachan (Kerala Police), etc.
Throughout the tournament we played great football; am glad I had a couple of goals – one in our opening match at Guwahati, Assam.
It had rained on the eve of the match which prevented training outdoors. The team had to sweat it out at the hotel itself.
Morning
of the match, at the team meeting, the instructions from Head Coach T.K.
Chathuni, Asst Coach Norbert Gonsalves, and Team Manager late Leopold Fernandes
were clear as the day:
“𝗧𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗿, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘁 – by playing a game Goans and Salgaocars are known to play – attacking football.”
The security and police escort from our hotel at Park Street in the heart of Kolkata City to the Salt Lake (Yuba Bharati Krirangan) Stadium – some 9 kms away, Bengali fans screamed from all around the team bus:
𝗔𝗺𝗮𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗮, 𝘁𝘂𝗺𝗶 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗮𝗯𝗲 (We will beat you; you will lose).
The roar in the stadium was deafening. Everybody expected one result: an East Bengal win.
But a solid team performance along with the individual brilliance of Goan legend Bruno Coutinho saw Salgaocar lift the Federation Cup under our captain Franky Barreto.
History was made. Final Score: 2-1
Everything peaked perfectly in the final; Bruno scored both the goals including the golden goal that silenced the stadium as if the 120,000 spectators were just stone statues. Only our jubilant voices and ecstatic celebration of Salgaocars owner Shivanand Salgaocar was in the air.
Our excitement was such, no one slept or rested till we boarded our flight next day. The grand welcome given by fans at Dabolim airport and the motorcade that followed to Salgaocar House - Vasco, was nothing short of a national victory.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗝𝗼𝘆 are relived after 24 years in a song sung by a player who played the final – our own right-wing back Seby Coelho (based in Cayman Islands) – probably honoring the victorious 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗴𝗮𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗿 𝘀𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗱:
Juze Siddi (goalkeeper), Bharat Morje (goalkeeper), Edwin Fernandes, Roque Pereira, Derick Pereira, Seby Coelho, Franky Barreto, Robert Fernandes, Anthony Afonso, Francis Barua, Savio Medeira, S. Venkatesh, Jules Alberto, Sanaton Singh, Satish Kumar, Domingos Vaz, Tony Travasso, Jude Odegah, Gasper Crasto, Bruno Coutinho, etc.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀-𝗔𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 -- 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗚𝗼𝗮𝗻𝘀.
𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰: Maestro Shahu
𝗘𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: Remmie Rodrigues
𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼-𝗩𝗶𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹𝘀: Agnelo Goes
Be a part of this historic moment, applaud the effort. 𝗖𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗞: https://youtu.be/RtdjTuS1_gE
