Thank you FC Goa for the great football that you played over the past two months. The skills and athleticism you showed on the field brought to mind the games that we had earlier only watched on television. The football was excellent, entertaining and kept the crowd emotionally charged. Something that football has not done in Goa for long. It happened in the past eight weeks and it was a wonderful feeling.
Thank you FC Goa for raising the standard of football in Goa. Our boys learnt some new tricks with the ball by playing in the team. They are now more accomplished footballers, ready and willing to use what they have learnt as they play for their respective clubs and their State. It is now they who will take the game forward and to new heights. Goa can expect to see more.
Thank you FC Goa for some moments of pride. Pride that Goan football ranks among the best in the country and that the Goan lads can play alongside the best in International football. They were there, our lads, accepting passes from Robert Pires, or collecting the ball from Jan Seda and taking it forward and feeding it to Andre Santos who would then score.
Thank you FC Goa for uniting the Goan football fraternity. There are a lot of football fans and they are not just those who cheer the local teams, but also those that stay up nights to watch Manchester United or Arsenal play and win. For two months all these cheered under the FC Goa flag. It didn’t matter to the Man U fans that Pires was a Gunner, they screamed their support when his foot touched the ball willing him on to the goal.
Thank you FC Goa for giving Goan football hope. When crowds at football games were reducing in number, you came in and turned the tide, bringing the game to the frontlines. We know now that Goan football is not likely to perish, perhaps ever. We know that there is still interest in the game, that our players are as good as the best, that we will still produce some of India’s best footballers, who will score for the country and one day bring home an International medal of note.
Thank you FC Goa for encouraging children to play the game. A day after you bowed out of the league, in a school just across the stadium where you played your last match, there was a fancy dress competition. Two little boys came dressed as FC Goa footballers, proud little fellows who have not lost their faith in the game or in the team. Like them there are so many others in so many other schools who will be eyeing a spot in FC Goa when they grow older. Today they are playing in the paddy fields close to their homes, one day may FC Goa be the club that takes them to international stardom.
Thank you FC Goa for giving the economy a little boost, even if it was very small. Never before have Goan football fans spent so much money on game tickets, club jerseys, club flags and banners. The only football matches that would be screened live on big screens across the State were those at the knockout stages of the World Cup and European Cup. On Wednesday there were screens in various villages and people in front of them screaming as if they were at the stadium.
Muito obrigado Zico, for turning the players into a team. And not just any team, but one with a great fighting spirit. There was always a lot of talent, but channelizing it into one cohesive team was your job and there you didn’t fail. You found the right combination and took the team to the semi finals of the league, moving it from last in the pool to the second position. That is no mean feat. When many had almost given up hope on the team you kept yours and the team’s in the right place. Goa salutes you and the team, but it doesn’t say adeus to you. Goa hopes you will stay with FC Goa so that the team you moulded will, under your direction, go on to win the trophy next year.
