NATIONAL TEAM AT MADRAS - 1964STANDING (L to R)
Benzinho Fernandes, Aissao Coutinho, Jorge Abrew, Menino Figuiredo (capt), Vasu Raiturcar, K. Anthony,
SQUATTING (L to R):
Marto Gracias, Kehav Verenkar, Andrew D'Souza, Alcantro Barretto, Alisab Sadekar
AGNELO GOMES is a very patriotic Goan residing in USA along with his Goan wife and children. He is the owner and moderator of “goancauses” which is widely read by Goans in Goa and elsewhere. According to my information he is the only Goan Millionaire in USA having involved in his own business since a long time back. He is an Engineer by education and profession acquring his Engineering Degree from Bombay University. He is the real Goan patriot having greatest love for Goa and Goan causes. God has blessed him with abundant wealth which he rightly shares with the needy. He founded his own Charitable Trust and he helps financially very many needy persons and causes for the good of Goa and Goans. On my request he funded some Goan causes including Konkani and Mando promotion causes. He is a great lover of soccer and he is well acquainted with yesteryears Goan footballers. Sometime back he sent me a nice picture of the Goan team that represented Goa first time in the Santosh Trophy held at Madras in 1964. When I saw this picture, I was thrilled because they were jewels of Goan soccer, such jewels Goa is yet to produce. Future generation must know them as the greatest Goan players. They were golden boys of Goan soccer. They were trained and played along with top Portuguese footballers and were not trained in their infancy by the PT Masters from Patiala. Indian system of soccer coaching is totally defective and the training imparted for soccer coaches in Patiala Institute is not meant to create footballers to play beyond Indian borders. The training imparted to Goans during Portuguese time was meant to produce Goan footballers to play and fit anywhere in the World. For this reason during Portuguese rule in Goa there was high quality soccer with less money power into the hands of players but after Portuguese rule ended, Goa produced low grade footballers but with more money power into their hands. During Portuguese time Goan teams encouraged Goan players but now top Goan teams are promoting non Goans and yet they claim to be the patrons of Goans. My foot!! These are all living lies to get political gains and to win the elections because Goan electors are "bloody fools". By encouraging non-Goan players in their teams the top senior division teams are killing soccer from the blood of genuine Goans. Goans should boycott Goan teams that are on forefront to promote non-Goans and these teams and their patrons should be treated as enemies of Goans and Goan soccer. And in the coming Lokh Sabah Election, the candidates and promoters of non-Goan footballers should be voted out.
I was very fortunate not only to see these golden players as shown in the photograph above, playing during their hey days but more fortunate I was because I played with most of them, against their teams of course. When I started playing at a very early age some of them were at their peak form while others at their receding form. One thing must be borne in mind that such a team Goa is yet to produce. I describe them one by one as they are seen in the picture from left, standing first and then squating in the same format. They did not earn great money by playing great soccer but surely they played great foot-ball of which type we do not see anywhere in Goa now, not even anywhere in India. They played football not for the greed of money but for the sheer love of foot-ball. Football was their first and last love and not money.
BENZINHO FERNANDES: The greatest goalkeeper Goa has ever produced. He was playing for Railways. He was automatic choice for GOA XI even during the Portuguese time when the competition was very stiff in the midst of best of Portuguese players. If my memory is right, he played for GOA XI in late fifties against visiting African team, Lourenco Marques under floodlit ground at Velha Goa. Once in a friendly match at Calangute ground, I saw him throwing the ball in his right hand from his goal area to opponents’ goal area. He had unique distinction to play even when one of his hands was injured. A very dashing and pushing keeper having the built of a wrestler and yet he was very acrobatic and flexible bodily. A few years after his retirement from active soccer from Railways, he joined Shantilal Soccer team but unfortunately faded away like unknown entity when the very spectators who earlier applauded him started to dislike him. In this way, he left playing soccer unsung and unadmired though he was a mighty giant in his earlier tenure at Railways.
AINSAO COUTINHO. An excellent centre forward of GOA XI donning the colours of Salgaocars. Very difficult to control and mark him. He had strong power in his right foot and very robust and bustling. He was nick named as “Gobro”. I played against him very many times while I was for Sesa Goa. It was very difficult to check his moves. I always found difficult to check his robust moves. He was one of the finest Centre forwards Goa has ever produced. And during those days best and finest Goan footballers were recruited by Salgaocar and they remain with Salgaocars till their retirement. Somewhere in early seventies, Ainsao in one outstation tournament suffered a severe leg injury which cut short much of his earlier luster creating pshychological demoralising effect on him.
JEORGE ABREU: Popularly known as Candu Abreu, hailing from Taleigao and donning the colours of Salgaocars, was one of the best defenders Goa has ever produced. An untiring and expert in aerial duel, he had great specialty in out beating his opponent with a big “slip”. I first time saw him in 1959 at Nerul Bardez for inter-village tournament playing for his village team Taleigao defeating excellent team St. Inez comprising some of the finest Mistisos and Pakle footballers. Then I saw him at Mapusa against Bombay Goans where with the exception of one silly mistake of allowing Neville D’Souza to outbeat him with a swerve of his shoulders and feinting Candu in the opposite direction to score that magnificent goal, otherwise for rest of the game he checked Neville Desouza’s moves well. Candu Abreu played his long innings for Salgaocars and I had great honour to play against him and his team many times in League encounters. He was very soft and decent on and off the field and a great lover of Tiatro. He was an automatic choice for GOA XI for many years.
MENINO FIGUEREDO: Goa is yet to produce another of his like. He was just like World Cup winning skipper Daniel Pasarella of Argentina in 1978 World Cup. He was earlier playing as right back and in this position he was unstoppable, unpenetrable and extremely good in the aerial duels. Always decent on the field but very aggressive. He represented GOA XI very many times and captained Goa’s team in 1964 for the Santosh Trophy when Goa first time appeared in this tourney. He was registered player of Salgaocar till his retirement. As a matter of fact all the players who played for Salgaocars were very faithful to their club till the end of their careers. He was very dependable defender. Once, in 1965 at Panjim Police ground, while Salgaocars were leading by 2-0 goals, Menino was suddenly injured and was taken out for about 6 minutes to administer first aid. However, during these 6 minutes Salgaocar’s defence was crumbled like a pack of cards conceding both the goals. Later part of his playing career, Menino Figueredo shifted his position to Half line. I played against him many times.
VASSU RAITURKAR: A golden boy of Goan soccer, admired by all Goans even by his opponents. He was an automatic choice for GOA XI for many years. Donning the colours of Salgaocars till his retirement, he was an outstanding right outer, such an outer Goa never produced before nor will ever easily. His photographs and autographs were taken to Portugal by many of the Pakles when they left Goa. One Goan who migrated to Portugal from Kuwait told me that one Portuguese Paklo showed him photograph of Vasu which he was carrying in his pocket and enquired whether he is ok and still playing football. He was very speedy on right flank. I many times played against him and found very difficult to catch up with his speed even though I was the fastest runner of Goa. The victory of Salgaocars and GOA XI innumerable times depended on him. Once at Police ground in Panjim Salgaocars were losing by one goal and only few minutes were remaining. V.M. Salgaocars the owner of Salgaocars empire was attending this match, seated on one of the VIP chairs. Suddenly he got up from his chair and shouted at Vasu saying “Vasu – Vasu, mar re” in Konkani and then and there within a minute Vasu scored the much required equalizer. Where is he now? Is he a forgotten hero of Goan soccer?
K. ANTONY: From his name itself one could make out that he is not a Goan but a Malyalee from Kerala. After the ouster of Portuguese from Goa, my Goa became a fertile land for Malyali footballers. Salgaocars were the first to hire them because during those days Parkot a Malyali was running the affairs of Salgaocar and he had lot of leanings towards his birth place. I don’t remember much of this Malyali player but yet I can rightly say that if he was the member of this team then surely he must be one of the best. Malyali footballers in Goa has given a good booster for Goan soccer. I salute their contribution in the promotion and development of Goan soccer. One of them Jos Rosemond in early seventies when Goa hosted Santosh Trophy for the first time even captained GOA XI assisted by Goan Visitacao Lobo as Vice Captain.
SQUATING.
MARTO GRACIAS. A great Goan footballer and because he was great he was selected for GOA XI. Very little I saw of him because soon he migrated and settled in Bombay where he finished his soccer career.
KESHAV VERENKAR: A magnificent midfielder donning the colours of Vasco till his retirement from active soccer. Goa has never produced such a midfielder and according to me will never produce easily either. He was the captain of Vasco Sports Club when Vasco won WIFA Championship in Bomay at Cooperage in early sixties. Again when Vasco reached for the Rovers Cup final in mid sixties, he captained Goan team. He was a very decent player though slow in running but very accurate in ball control and ball distribution. An untiring throughout the match he could feed his forwards on silver platter to score goals. I had great distinction to play against him a number of times and once at Mapusa had a verbal duel with him on the field when I shouldered his colleague, the great Bernardo Pereira on the run. He objected my dashing play, I said “to hell with you, referee is there to reprimand me, what I did to Bernard was within the soccer playing rule”. Later on the game was abandoned due to crowd invasion of the field where the score was locked to 1-1. Otherwise he is very cool and calm. By the way, where is he now? Is our GFA and Goa Government doing anything for the better living of our yesteryears footballers who have given such a fillip to Goan soccer during their hey days? If Goan soccer has reached to such a level today it is only because of the great contributions of yesteryears footballers. These footballers should not be left to die a miserable death unwanted and unremunerated. Somebody must take care of their financial needs if they are in need because during their playing days they did not make lakhs as the current ones.
ANDREW D’SOUZA: Most adorable and most admirable among all the Goan footballers. A puny sized, he was the Centre forward of GOA XI and Vasco. Dr. Gustavo Monteiro said he never saw such a clever forward in Goa even during the Portuguese time though among Pakles there were giants but none could be compared with Andrew. He had innumerable offers from Calcutta giants but he turned down all of them in favour of his club Goan club Vasco and remained faithful to it till his retirement. I played against him when we encountered Vasco and I always found him difficult to control because he was very tricky and quick in the goalmouth. His greatest asset was his cool temperament. He would use both his legs with equal ease. Near the opponents goalmouth he was unpredictable. Many times while defending our citadel he made my life miserable as he did of most of the defenders from Goa and India. He was very tricky and sometimes he would simply run in the opposite direction of the ball to fool thedefenders. In Kerala and other South Indian places he was then adored like a God. In Bombay among Goans he was an iconic figure. When his team Vasco reached for Rovers Cup final for the first time in Bombay, first time a Goan team, Dhobitalao and Chandanwady were buzzing only with his name as Andrew – Andrew for the whole night. On the streets of Dhobitalao, Goans danced that whole night in his name with “Battlis” in their hands from Dhobitalao and Chandanwady Unties.
ALCANTRO BARRETO: One of the best defenders of Goa having donned the colours of Salgaocars until he migrated to Kuwait in early seventies. He left Kuwait for good after working for about 3 decades. He was a regular member of Goa selection for a decade and on the eve of his migrating to Kuwait he captained GOA XI in the Santosh Trophy. A very dependable back, extremely good in aerial battle and could use both his legs with ease. Having never say to surrender he made mockery of many of the top forwards of Goa and India. I played against his team in Goa and also in Kuwait where he donned the colours of UG Strikers. He was very much involved in promoting Goan soccer in Kuwait by playing and also by encouraging others too. While in Kuwait he created a solid mark of his soccer amongst Indians and expatriates alike. While playing for G.O.A. Maroons I clashed with him very many times. Though looked aggressive yet in his character he was very cool and always soft spoken and unproblematic.
ALISAB SADEKAR: Popularly known as Ali, he was a regular member of GOA XI for many years. He was playing for Salgaocars in the defence line and would mark his opponent very tightly. He played for Salgaocars for many years like other Salgaocars players. Salgaocars had great distinction of promoting Goan players till they are totally match unfit. For this reason, Salgaocars’ players lasted more in the soccer career than players from other teams. Salgaocars carry unique distinction of supporting Goan footballers and promoting soccer in Goa very beautifully. After Bharat annexed Goa, Salgaocars was the first Goan team to represent Goa in the Durand Cup at Delhi. When Nehru was informed of this, he was very thrilled and came to see the Goan boys in action. Before the start of the match, Nehru personally came down on the field and shook hands with every Goan player welcoming them into Bharati fold with broad smile.
A. Veronica Fwenandes,
Kuwait.
Concluded.
I was very fortunate not only to see these golden players as shown in the photograph above, playing during their hey days but more fortunate I was because I played with most of them, against their teams of course. When I started playing at a very early age some of them were at their peak form while others at their receding form. One thing must be borne in mind that such a team Goa is yet to produce. I describe them one by one as they are seen in the picture from left, standing first and then squating in the same format. They did not earn great money by playing great soccer but surely they played great foot-ball of which type we do not see anywhere in Goa now, not even anywhere in India. They played football not for the greed of money but for the sheer love of foot-ball. Football was their first and last love and not money.
BENZINHO FERNANDES: The greatest goalkeeper Goa has ever produced. He was playing for Railways. He was automatic choice for GOA XI even during the Portuguese time when the competition was very stiff in the midst of best of Portuguese players. If my memory is right, he played for GOA XI in late fifties against visiting African team, Lourenco Marques under floodlit ground at Velha Goa. Once in a friendly match at Calangute ground, I saw him throwing the ball in his right hand from his goal area to opponents’ goal area. He had unique distinction to play even when one of his hands was injured. A very dashing and pushing keeper having the built of a wrestler and yet he was very acrobatic and flexible bodily. A few years after his retirement from active soccer from Railways, he joined Shantilal Soccer team but unfortunately faded away like unknown entity when the very spectators who earlier applauded him started to dislike him. In this way, he left playing soccer unsung and unadmired though he was a mighty giant in his earlier tenure at Railways.
AINSAO COUTINHO. An excellent centre forward of GOA XI donning the colours of Salgaocars. Very difficult to control and mark him. He had strong power in his right foot and very robust and bustling. He was nick named as “Gobro”. I played against him very many times while I was for Sesa Goa. It was very difficult to check his moves. I always found difficult to check his robust moves. He was one of the finest Centre forwards Goa has ever produced. And during those days best and finest Goan footballers were recruited by Salgaocar and they remain with Salgaocars till their retirement. Somewhere in early seventies, Ainsao in one outstation tournament suffered a severe leg injury which cut short much of his earlier luster creating pshychological demoralising effect on him.
JEORGE ABREU: Popularly known as Candu Abreu, hailing from Taleigao and donning the colours of Salgaocars, was one of the best defenders Goa has ever produced. An untiring and expert in aerial duel, he had great specialty in out beating his opponent with a big “slip”. I first time saw him in 1959 at Nerul Bardez for inter-village tournament playing for his village team Taleigao defeating excellent team St. Inez comprising some of the finest Mistisos and Pakle footballers. Then I saw him at Mapusa against Bombay Goans where with the exception of one silly mistake of allowing Neville D’Souza to outbeat him with a swerve of his shoulders and feinting Candu in the opposite direction to score that magnificent goal, otherwise for rest of the game he checked Neville Desouza’s moves well. Candu Abreu played his long innings for Salgaocars and I had great honour to play against him and his team many times in League encounters. He was very soft and decent on and off the field and a great lover of Tiatro. He was an automatic choice for GOA XI for many years.
MENINO FIGUEREDO: Goa is yet to produce another of his like. He was just like World Cup winning skipper Daniel Pasarella of Argentina in 1978 World Cup. He was earlier playing as right back and in this position he was unstoppable, unpenetrable and extremely good in the aerial duels. Always decent on the field but very aggressive. He represented GOA XI very many times and captained Goa’s team in 1964 for the Santosh Trophy when Goa first time appeared in this tourney. He was registered player of Salgaocar till his retirement. As a matter of fact all the players who played for Salgaocars were very faithful to their club till the end of their careers. He was very dependable defender. Once, in 1965 at Panjim Police ground, while Salgaocars were leading by 2-0 goals, Menino was suddenly injured and was taken out for about 6 minutes to administer first aid. However, during these 6 minutes Salgaocar’s defence was crumbled like a pack of cards conceding both the goals. Later part of his playing career, Menino Figueredo shifted his position to Half line. I played against him many times.
VASSU RAITURKAR: A golden boy of Goan soccer, admired by all Goans even by his opponents. He was an automatic choice for GOA XI for many years. Donning the colours of Salgaocars till his retirement, he was an outstanding right outer, such an outer Goa never produced before nor will ever easily. His photographs and autographs were taken to Portugal by many of the Pakles when they left Goa. One Goan who migrated to Portugal from Kuwait told me that one Portuguese Paklo showed him photograph of Vasu which he was carrying in his pocket and enquired whether he is ok and still playing football. He was very speedy on right flank. I many times played against him and found very difficult to catch up with his speed even though I was the fastest runner of Goa. The victory of Salgaocars and GOA XI innumerable times depended on him. Once at Police ground in Panjim Salgaocars were losing by one goal and only few minutes were remaining. V.M. Salgaocars the owner of Salgaocars empire was attending this match, seated on one of the VIP chairs. Suddenly he got up from his chair and shouted at Vasu saying “Vasu – Vasu, mar re” in Konkani and then and there within a minute Vasu scored the much required equalizer. Where is he now? Is he a forgotten hero of Goan soccer?
K. ANTONY: From his name itself one could make out that he is not a Goan but a Malyalee from Kerala. After the ouster of Portuguese from Goa, my Goa became a fertile land for Malyali footballers. Salgaocars were the first to hire them because during those days Parkot a Malyali was running the affairs of Salgaocar and he had lot of leanings towards his birth place. I don’t remember much of this Malyali player but yet I can rightly say that if he was the member of this team then surely he must be one of the best. Malyali footballers in Goa has given a good booster for Goan soccer. I salute their contribution in the promotion and development of Goan soccer. One of them Jos Rosemond in early seventies when Goa hosted Santosh Trophy for the first time even captained GOA XI assisted by Goan Visitacao Lobo as Vice Captain.
SQUATING.
MARTO GRACIAS. A great Goan footballer and because he was great he was selected for GOA XI. Very little I saw of him because soon he migrated and settled in Bombay where he finished his soccer career.
KESHAV VERENKAR: A magnificent midfielder donning the colours of Vasco till his retirement from active soccer. Goa has never produced such a midfielder and according to me will never produce easily either. He was the captain of Vasco Sports Club when Vasco won WIFA Championship in Bomay at Cooperage in early sixties. Again when Vasco reached for the Rovers Cup final in mid sixties, he captained Goan team. He was a very decent player though slow in running but very accurate in ball control and ball distribution. An untiring throughout the match he could feed his forwards on silver platter to score goals. I had great distinction to play against him a number of times and once at Mapusa had a verbal duel with him on the field when I shouldered his colleague, the great Bernardo Pereira on the run. He objected my dashing play, I said “to hell with you, referee is there to reprimand me, what I did to Bernard was within the soccer playing rule”. Later on the game was abandoned due to crowd invasion of the field where the score was locked to 1-1. Otherwise he is very cool and calm. By the way, where is he now? Is our GFA and Goa Government doing anything for the better living of our yesteryears footballers who have given such a fillip to Goan soccer during their hey days? If Goan soccer has reached to such a level today it is only because of the great contributions of yesteryears footballers. These footballers should not be left to die a miserable death unwanted and unremunerated. Somebody must take care of their financial needs if they are in need because during their playing days they did not make lakhs as the current ones.
ANDREW D’SOUZA: Most adorable and most admirable among all the Goan footballers. A puny sized, he was the Centre forward of GOA XI and Vasco. Dr. Gustavo Monteiro said he never saw such a clever forward in Goa even during the Portuguese time though among Pakles there were giants but none could be compared with Andrew. He had innumerable offers from Calcutta giants but he turned down all of them in favour of his club Goan club Vasco and remained faithful to it till his retirement. I played against him when we encountered Vasco and I always found him difficult to control because he was very tricky and quick in the goalmouth. His greatest asset was his cool temperament. He would use both his legs with equal ease. Near the opponents goalmouth he was unpredictable. Many times while defending our citadel he made my life miserable as he did of most of the defenders from Goa and India. He was very tricky and sometimes he would simply run in the opposite direction of the ball to fool thedefenders. In Kerala and other South Indian places he was then adored like a God. In Bombay among Goans he was an iconic figure. When his team Vasco reached for Rovers Cup final for the first time in Bombay, first time a Goan team, Dhobitalao and Chandanwady were buzzing only with his name as Andrew – Andrew for the whole night. On the streets of Dhobitalao, Goans danced that whole night in his name with “Battlis” in their hands from Dhobitalao and Chandanwady Unties.
ALCANTRO BARRETO: One of the best defenders of Goa having donned the colours of Salgaocars until he migrated to Kuwait in early seventies. He left Kuwait for good after working for about 3 decades. He was a regular member of Goa selection for a decade and on the eve of his migrating to Kuwait he captained GOA XI in the Santosh Trophy. A very dependable back, extremely good in aerial battle and could use both his legs with ease. Having never say to surrender he made mockery of many of the top forwards of Goa and India. I played against his team in Goa and also in Kuwait where he donned the colours of UG Strikers. He was very much involved in promoting Goan soccer in Kuwait by playing and also by encouraging others too. While in Kuwait he created a solid mark of his soccer amongst Indians and expatriates alike. While playing for G.O.A. Maroons I clashed with him very many times. Though looked aggressive yet in his character he was very cool and always soft spoken and unproblematic.
ALISAB SADEKAR: Popularly known as Ali, he was a regular member of GOA XI for many years. He was playing for Salgaocars in the defence line and would mark his opponent very tightly. He played for Salgaocars for many years like other Salgaocars players. Salgaocars had great distinction of promoting Goan players till they are totally match unfit. For this reason, Salgaocars’ players lasted more in the soccer career than players from other teams. Salgaocars carry unique distinction of supporting Goan footballers and promoting soccer in Goa very beautifully. After Bharat annexed Goa, Salgaocars was the first Goan team to represent Goa in the Durand Cup at Delhi. When Nehru was informed of this, he was very thrilled and came to see the Goan boys in action. Before the start of the match, Nehru personally came down on the field and shook hands with every Goan player welcoming them into Bharati fold with broad smile.
A. Veronica Fwenandes,
Kuwait.
Concluded.
