Goa
is often seen as one of the few footballing hopes for India on the whole. It
has, along with West Bengal, been seen as the footballing core of the country.
However, the potential for success and its measures of the same have always
been restricted to players and their end result; or the success of local clubs.
It’s never been taken a step further, to look into the managerial potential of
local talent. And that’s where recent news has been made.
The
recently broken news that was greeted with a lot of due fervour on the Indian
football scene was that local lad Francisco Bruto Da Costa had been appointed
the assistant coach of the Malaysian national football team. Francisco was a
former North East United assistant coach in the third edition of the Indian
Super League (ISL). He has gone on to join his former head coach at North East
United, Nelo Vingada, in Malaysia.
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Francisco
has an Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) Pro license as well an ‘A’ license
coaching certificate. In the capacity of an assistant coach, he has served the
Indian U14, U17 and U19 national teams as well as the All Indian Football
Federation’s (AIFF) Elite Academy, right from 2013. After 15 years of having
worked within the country, he has now moved to Malaysia, where he will
doubtlessly take yet another step forward on the footballing front.
A few
Goan football enthusiasts share what this means for the future of Goan
football:
A lot
of our football legends are working in the service sector abroad now, because
they don’t see a career in football in Goa. At the same time, I know some Goan
legends who have moved abroad and are doing their coaching badges. Hopefully,
even though Indian football hasn’t given them enough, they will do their bit to
bring up the standard of Goan football. Francisco had previously even worked
with the Indian team. Getting the Malaysian national team job is a big coup for
not just Goan, but Indian football. We’ve produced some great coaches like
Derek Pereira, Armando Colaco and others. We definitely have the potential to
take their legacies forward.
Conrad Barreto
This
is a positive sign for not only Goan football, but Indian football as a whole.
We always underestimate our local Indian coaches and employ foreign coaches for
our teams. Francisco has shown that if we are given the chance, Indians can be
great coaches too. His work with North East FC in the ISL has helped him show
his potential, which enabled this move to the Malaysian national team. We can
hope more ISL clubs opt for Indian coaches now. Many retired footballers can
look to coaching as a career and this move will give them a boost in this area.
Anjyot Talauliker
