MAPUSA: Goa 5’s will battle it out for the final berth against Kochi 5’s in the semi-finals of the Indian Premier Futsal league at Peddem sports complex, Mapusa, on Saturday, at 8.10 p.m.
Goa till now had the most limelight in the debut season of Premier Futsal. First, with Ronaldinho scoring the five goals and leaving everyone in awe. After his early departure, Cafu replaced Ronaldinho as the marquee player and eventually guided the team into semi-finals.
Playing in front of the home crowd, Goa 5’s had the additional edge over Bengaluru 5’s Thursday night. Now, in the knock-out stage, the crowd will only swell further and get behind the home team all the way to the final.
Their key man has been Benfica star Rafael. His favourite move is the step over and he is very sharp, always changing direction and feinting to off balance his defender. He provides assists and goals. He is backed up by defender Vampeta who poses significant attacking threat as shown by his four goals in the tournament so far. They also have the agile Benfica goalkeeper Bebe he is very quick to sense any danger and sort it out.
They have two goal-scorers in the tournament, who came from the launchpad in Michael Silva and Fredsan Marshall. Though less experienced, these two Goan lads, have made a big impact in the group stages and will be needed to do the same in the knockout phase.
The only possible weak-link that Goa has is the lack of back-up quality futsal players. Rafael and Vampeta have been outstanding along with Bebe in the goal, but there is not enough bench strength to cover up for them. They will be heavily relying on the Goan crowd to push them over the line against Kochi on Saturday night.
Their opponent Kochi 5’s, will rely on Michel Salgado, who is a strong and determined defender but the main asset he brings to his team is his mentality.
He transmits this never say die attitude to his team and this was shown in the last group match where they were almost knocked out by Chennai, but a goal in the dying seconds meant Chennai were sent home packing.
In goal they have Italian Luca Casalone, who has been one of the outstanding performers in the tournament, producing some stunning saves in more than one game. They have the biggest attacking weapon in the competition, the partnership between Chaguinha and golden armband (leading goalscorer) Deives Moraes. They have 12 goals between them and, if one is scoring, it is usually the other assisting.
From the talent launchpad, Kochi have used many of the players, unlike other teams, who have stuck to interchanging two or three. This gives them more options than other teams and more depth to avoid fatigue or an injury to a key man having a big impact.
It is easier said than done, but if you can nullify Chaiguina and Moraes and stop them combining, the other players don’t offer much attacking threat. Chennai managed to do it for three quarters but that wasn’t enough.
