Goa football set for joyous explosion, from a Brazilian blast from the past

TEAM HERALD
PANJIM/ DABOLIM:  The legend has landed. Across two generations, devotees of football watched documentaries in cinema halls and then on black and white televisions, saw their Gods at play. When they won World Cups, it was done with the ease of a canter in the park.  Zico, Socrates, Falcao, Pele. They played in a faraway land of Brazil delightful but unreachable. One of them fell from the skies of Goa on Monday — Arthur Antunes Coimbra or the White Pearl or White Pele, but above all one of the two best four letter words in World football — ZICO. The other, of course, Pele.
Zico arrived at the Dabolim airport at 3.30 pm to Coach the Goa FC team in the Indian Super League,  and was  received by Albert Colaco (head of operation of FC Goa), Shubert Furtado (vice-president, Goa Football Association), Laurence Gomes (Goa Football Association executive member), Walvin Menezes and officials of Dempo Club. For all of them the league just got super.
When asked to comment on his coaching of the Goan team, Zico informed the waiting media that his 30-hour journey to Goa had left him exhausted and tired. “I will comment about my plans to coach the Goan team on Tuesday evening,” said Zico, before he left the airport along with football officials.
Tired he was. He arrived via Mumbai after a long haul flight from Brazil, deftly avoided any blocks or stoppages from reporters, zoomed to the five start resort, his home  for the next few weeks, at Bambolim, and headed straight for his room, with the precision and footwork of the legend that he was. And still is. With him was the man who made it happen, Goa’s resident Brazillian footballer, Roberto Silva (Beto).
The hotel is naturally gushing, “It is great to have a legend like Zico with us, he is someone who is revered in the football world and we are privileged to have him in our hotel for a long stay”.
Special arrangements have been made by the resort to make sure the FC Goa manager feels at home. He has a great room besides that there will be a team of staff that will be there to assist him all the way, so far we’ve not received any special requests from him”, a senior member of the managerial staff said.
On Tuesday, the legend will be unveiled at another downtown resort and that promises to be the ultimate showstopper.