Goa is often described as the land of fish, feni and football. Honestly, our feni has long lost its chastity to bootleggers and the best of our fish catch is either gobbled up by the hotels or exported.
Until now “Football Lovers” was the only sobriquet we could live up to with our stadiums drawing a roaring full house during important matches and our footballers dominating or at least having a sizable presence in national football team.
Alas, this also appears to be changing! There is not a single Goan in the Under 17 national football squad and as if this is not enough to puncture our pride, the empty stands at the Fatorda Stadium have further dented our reputation.
Hurt feelings apart, India has shown that it can play football without Goans! As is our wont, some of us have started complaining about bad selection and biased selectors. But to be fair, selectors have to rise above regional considerations to ensure that the best men find their place in the team. It’s time we Goans learn to face the truth and stop taking our place in Indian football for granted.
Although India lost all its matches, the positive football displayed by our young colts was heart-warming. Losing matches is not such a bad thing specially when one is punching way above ones weight… This crack outfit has demonstrated in no uncertain terms that they are no pushovers and can match the best in the business on their day.
Obviously, the absence of Goans in the under 17 team does not forecast a bright future for Goan football. Where on earth have our footballers disappeared?
There is no doubt that Goans have an inborn talent for football and football players nurtured in the fertile paddy fields of Goa have done us proud in the past. But natural talent by itself is not enough in the fiercely competitive world of modern football.
In an excellent article published recently, former international footballer Lector Mascarenhas has convincingly made a case for residential football academies where young footballers can pursue their dream with a single minded devotion. As he put it, one has to be in the seminary to become a priest and a top class residential Academy to become a world class footballer!
From being Asian Games gold medalist in 1951 and 1962, Olympic semi-finalist in 1956 to where we are today, is quite a freefall in the backdrop of progress made by other Asian countries. Who would believe that in 1950 India could not play in the World Cup because Indians insisted on playing barefoot which FIFA did not allow.
The promising football displayed by our under 17 team could well be a harbinger of better things; a turning point for Indian football. Hopefully, our dreams of playing in the World Cup could turn into reality someday in the near future, but we Goans may have nothing special to cheer about.
Football is the official sports of Goa, why can`t the State Govt take up the initiative of setting up a top class residential football academy in collaboration with a friendly ready-to-help football powerhouse like Portugal?
After all, football is not just our pride, its something that unites Goans across the spectrum! Football can even create jobs!
