Rajesh D’silva
PANJIM: Avelino D’souza, hailing from Sada, Vasco was exceptionally thrilled to drive the FC Goa team from Hotel Marriot to the Fatorda stadium since the ISL league started this season.
“I jumped for joy when I was told that I would be driving the FC Goa bus with such talented football stars.
“Last season I was appointed as the bus driver for other teams but not FC Goa, so this news to me was as a pleasant surprise. I used to drive on the national route earlier,” informed a beaming Avelino.
“I have established a rapport with Dudu Omagbemi, Reinaldo Da Cruz Oliveira and Mandar Rao Dessai who are comfortable with my driving. All the players are good to me. They have even praised my driving skills which I consider as big compliment specially coming from such great football players,” said the modest Goan driver.
“The FC Goa team are always in a cheerful mood whenever they are in the bus. I remember when they lost to Chennaiyin FC on Oct. 11 they still looked unshaken and behaved confidently as they always are,” said Avelino.
The driver’s duty begins early with the routine pick and drops from the hotel to the stadium for their regular training sessions. The route is familiar but at times when they are stuck in traffic jams a lot of curious fans ride or drive along the bus route just to get a glimpse of their football stars. This requires a lot of tact and skill by the driver to wriggle off tight spots with the police escort trailing the bus.
Today Avelino looked visibly pleased and confident about the FC Goa team returning home victorious.
“I strongly feel that they will atleast score 2-3 goals today. They will surely win. I’ve seen them train hard and I know how serious this team is about making their fans happy. They would go all out in today’s match to just score and win for their die hard FC Goa fans,” said Avelino.
As the squad began leaving the hotel Avelino quickly jumped into the drivers seat and flashed a victory sign.
“We will return home victorious,” said the affable driver.
