Dempo Club News
Dempo SC suffered an away
defeat at the hands of East
Bengal as the Red and Gold
brigade edged past the
defending championS by a 3-2
margin last Sunday.
Coach Armando Colaco believes
that his boys shall certainly
bounce back from the defeat
when they next face Mumbai FC
in Kolhapur.
“The result is fair enough and I
have no one to blame on. Playing
East Bengal in Kolkata is always
tough. They really came back
well in the second half, ” he
opined.
Did the red card of Clifford
Miranda actually change the
result of the game?
“I do not think so. We were
already two goals down by then.
You can't touch the referee. I
also had to intervene to calm my
players down," he said.
Mahesh Gawli had to be rushed
to the nearest hospital in the
second half when he got
dehydrated and landed on his
head after a challenge on Tolgay
Ozbey.
“Mahesh is fine now. He had a
bad fall which resulted in a
respiratory problem. After the
match, the entire Dempo squad
went to see him at the hospital,"
said Colaco.
The Dempo coach wasn't bogged
down with their loss as he
pointed that East Bengal have
yet to play two crucial matches
in Goa against Salgaocar SC and
Churchill Brothers.
“Title race is wide open. East
Bengal has to play two matches
in Goa and that too against two
top teams. Salgaocar have played
more matches than us. I can still
see a very bright chance for
our team. ”
SOURCE: goal.com
defeat at the hands of East
Bengal as the Red and Gold
brigade edged past the
defending championS by a 3-2
margin last Sunday.
Coach Armando Colaco believes
that his boys shall certainly
bounce back from the defeat
when they next face Mumbai FC
in Kolhapur.
“The result is fair enough and I
have no one to blame on. Playing
East Bengal in Kolkata is always
tough. They really came back
well in the second half, ” he
opined.
Did the red card of Clifford
Miranda actually change the
result of the game?
“I do not think so. We were
already two goals down by then.
You can't touch the referee. I
also had to intervene to calm my
players down," he said.
Mahesh Gawli had to be rushed
to the nearest hospital in the
second half when he got
dehydrated and landed on his
head after a challenge on Tolgay
Ozbey.
“Mahesh is fine now. He had a
bad fall which resulted in a
respiratory problem. After the
match, the entire Dempo squad
went to see him at the hospital,"
said Colaco.
The Dempo coach wasn't bogged
down with their loss as he
pointed that East Bengal have
yet to play two crucial matches
in Goa against Salgaocar SC and
Churchill Brothers.
“Title race is wide open. East
Bengal has to play two matches
in Goa and that too against two
top teams. Salgaocar have played
more matches than us. I can still
see a very bright chance for
our team. ”
SOURCE: goal.com
Comments
football was still amateur. He hung up his boots after having served the State and the
nation for more than 18 years with engrossing football. State team that brought to Goan soil, the Santosh Trophy, for the first time ever -- the year when Goa shared the trophy with Bengal, as joint winners. Mauricio was also member of the Goa squad the following year, 1983, when they repeated history, but this time were selfish, bringing home prestigious trophy with an outright victory. "We defeated
Punjab 2-1, and one of the goals was mine," says a proud Mauricio, recollecting the carnival like celebrations that followed in Goa, after the victory. From a student of Don Bosco High School, Chinchinim to a member of the Indian football team, Mauricio has come a long way. Mauricio owes his football career
to his mother, who despite his poor performance in academics, never debarred him from pursuing football.
Another person that comes to Mauricio''s mind is his physical trainer at school, Cajetan Rodrigues, popularly known as "Shanne", who encouraged and guided him, through the ABCs of the game.
In 1976-77, Mauricio switched over from his village team, CRC Chinchinim, to Salcete Football Club, as his village lacked football coaching facilities. "There was no coach in my village and I was left with no
other option but to move over to Salcete F. C.," said Mauricio, who admits that, during his time, there were no such thing ''as youth development programmes to tap talent at the grassroots level while agreeing that an academy could have moulded him into a far better player. However, such drawbacks did
not deter him from pursuing his goal. Mauricio was quick to realise that Sa1cete F. C. was not
his cup of football and began looking at wider horizons, in quest of success. Hard work paid and he soon. received an offer from Salgaocar Sports Club in 1981-82. While playing for Salgaocars, Mauricio trained
under the tutelage of coach Shanmugham. Mauricio soon opted for Dempo and stayed with them for the
next 15 years, playing alongside other greats like Armando Colaco, Nicholas Pereira, Francis D''Souza,
Alex Miranda, to name a few. "I was lucky to have been coached by greats like Shanmugham from
Salgaocars, Joseph Rathnam from Dempo and then later P. K. Banerjee and Ciric Milovan while I played for India." Mauricio got his first national breakthrough, when he was selected to attend the 1983 national camp in Delhi. The Indian squad was selected for the Goodwill tour to Russia and the second string team was selected to represent India at the President Cup held in Dhaka, Bangladesh. "It was at this time that Ciric Milovan had come to India. Impressed by my performance, he selected me for the second team," he says, Mauricio''s performance in Dhaka, cemented his position in the Indian team and he became a
regular member of the Indian squad from 1983 to 89. Boosted by Mauricio''s exploits, Salgaocar beat East Bengal to win the 1982 Federation Cup in Calicut. He also played a stellar role in the half line of Goa''s
1982 and 1983 squads, controlling and supporting the strikers, besides falling back to help the defence, to win the Santosh trophy. These victories put Goa on India''s football map. "Those days," recollects Mauricio, "most footballers played the game for the love of it, as there were hardly any monetary
benefits.Perhaps the only concession that the players received in my time was job security which was considered the biggest incentive. There was a lot of dedication and commitment on the part of the players,then. But Mauricio has no regrets for having missing the bus of professional football. "I did not get enough money but I love football and I am content with whatever football has given to me. The present lot of players are making good money, no doubt: It is their turn now and they are being paid for their talent," he disclosed.
Mauricio has taken to coaching and has successfully completed his AFC C license coaching course. His wish is to serve the sport he so dearly loves. Unlike foreigners such as Danny Maclennan, who took to coaching at the age of 19, when at the peak of his playing career, former Goan footballers have mostly shown scant interest in this vital component of the game. However, the mild natured Mauricio, is quick to defend his colleagues. "During our time we were all amateur players, our security being job offers in companies like Dempos and Salgaocars. So they could not opt for coaching as they had office work to attend to. Coaching is a full time job with lots of responsibility. Job security was, in those days, important for the survival of players, after they were finished with football." Having decided to take a plunge into coaching, Mauricio now plans to undergo a one year NIS coaching diploma course at Patiala.
In his long association with football that stretched close to two decades, Mauricio stood witness to the changing face of the game. "There is no dearth of talent today but I do feel that the old players were more skillful. Unlike the players in our time, the present set of footballers prefer to stay upfront and score," Mauricio pointed out. He also added that the present crop of footballers are exposed to a lot of facilities, which were unfortunately not available during his days. However, unmindful of the 'behind the curtain politics'', within the football system,
Mauricio went on to create a niche for himself in the annals of Indian football. "I took the pressure in my stride and used to concentrate only on my practice, following whatever my coach asked me to do," says Mauricio insisting simultaneously that every coach, he worked under, was responsible for his success. However, Ciric Milovan is one man who occupies a special place in Mauricio''s heart. "Ciric was very good. He used to stress on total football and took personal initiative in all the players and ironed out our shortcomings by personally venturing on the field and correcting us. He inspired us to perform better."
According to Mauricio, Indian footballers need a lot of international exposure, if the standard of the game in the country is to improve. "A nation like Brazil starts preparing for the World Cup, about two years in advance. We should also follow suit," stresses Mauricio. "You have to introduce skillful training in every department, be it kicking or heading at an early stage. Such skills cannot be taught once a player has already developed a particular style of his own," he added.
Perhaps what has marred the development of football at the national level, is the strong club culture, with all the major competitions like the National League, the Durand Cup, Rovers Cup, Federation Cup etc. being club tournaments. The trend has directly affected the national team with national players playing for different clubs, under different coaches, with the lure of good money. Thus when they come together to play for the country they cannot find the right combination, as the national camp is held for just a couple of months. Mauricio feels that national players should be declared National property and must be given very good facilities including good money. "The problem is that the money is where the clubs are and therefore the leading players play extensively for the clubs. Further, the football calendar should be fixed in such a way that players get enough time to recuperate from one exhaustive competition to another," says Mauricio.
His 15-year-old association with Dempo has seen the club rise as one of the most formidable teams in the nation. Mauricio, while refusing to comment on the fortunes of Dempo Sports Club, however admitted that the shortage of local players is due to the decline in the inter-village tournament. "The Goan clubs who have gone professional, sign up foreigners as there are no quality Goan players around," says Mauricio.
Mauricio blamed the media squarely for the pitiable state of football in the country, "The media, unfortunately, lays all emphasis on cricket. Star Sports initially did justice to football by airing live telecast of all the football matches in the inaugural year of the national League, which proved to be a great incentive to the game. But then it was abruptly discontinued without any sound reason".
Although Mauricio has not become rich from football, he came from the class of players, who played out of sheer love of the sport, earning themselves tremendous love and respect from the people.
Ranty Martins’ contract and talks
are on with Yusuf to fill in
Martins’ void.
“We are in talks with Yakubu,”
disclosed Colaco, who has taken
four months leave from his job
at the Goa-based club to coach
the Indian national team.
Yusuf is no stranger to Indian
football having played for the
last two seasons for current I-
League winners Salgaocar Sports
Club and had earlier turned out
for the now disbanded
Nigerian striker Yakubu Yusuf
Mahindra United, Mumbai; East
Bengal, Kolkata and Churchill
Brothers in the I-League.
Here are the excerpts of the interview:
NT: How is your preparation going on for the new season taking into consideration that some top Goan clubs have recruited ‘stars’ from foreign countries such as Henri Antchouet from Africa who is known to have played in Spanish League and also in Europe?
Mauricio Afonso: The Dempo Sports Club has its own strength and it has proved it by winning the I-League on record number of times. We have also done very well at the international level with our own set of players. We know our strength very well and are ready to take on any team.
NT: Do you have plans to recruit any new foreign players?
Mauricio Afonso: We have retained all our foreign players who played in the last season except Beto. Two new players from Ghana will join the training session soon for trial. Besides, six of our players namely Peter Carvalho, Valeriano Rebello, Mahesh Gawli, Sameer Naik, Climax Lawrence and Clifford Miranda are presently doing national duty, while two players Joaquim Abranches and Anthony Pereira have returned.
NT: Which positions these Ghanian players are expected to play?
Mauricio Afonso: One is a midfielder and the other is a striker.
NT: Are these players good enough?
Mauricio Afonso: Yes they are good. But they are not yet recruited.
NT: What would be your strategy for the I-League and for that matter Pro-League?
Mauricio Afonso: We can’t disclose our strategy right now. At present we are preparing for the Pro- League and the names on the roster for the club have been already released. The Pro-League and the Super Cup will start in August and we are ready for it. As far as I-League is concerned, our chief coach Armando Colaco will take over soon and he will then decide about all aspects.
NT: Can you name some of your strong players on the roster now?
Mauricio Afonso: All our players are very good and they work as a team. We at Dempo Sports Club don’t distinguish between the players. All our players work very hard as they know there is no substitute for hard work, and that has been the secret of our success over the years.
NT: Has your club given up on the famous Argentina star player Ariel Ortega referred as ‘Diego Maradona’ in some circles?
Mauricio Afonso: That story is already out now. I don’t think it is happening.
NT: Are you ready for the Pro-League that starts shortly?
Mauricio Afonso: Yes, we are ready to take on any team.
Jose, can you please provide link of this article. we will like to put it in players/past column, as he was a good player for India. Also provide link for any article you share, coz the authors may object and its also fair that way.
And we were just curious, why your posts only take 1/4th of the width?
assistant coach Mauricio Afonso
and youth coach Mathew D’Costa
would be soon travelling to
Denmark on an 8-10 day visit to
work out the modalities with FC
Midtjylland (FCM), on how best
the present tie-up between the
two clubs could be enhanced
further for mutual benefit and
future development in football,
disclosed Mr Shrinivas V Dempo,
Chairman of Dempo Group of
Companies
champions Dempo Sports Club
have shored up their brittle
defence with the signing of
Selwyn Fernandes from Pune
Football Club