MARGAO/MAPUSA, JULY 12
The camp to select the players for the Goa Santosh Trophy kicked off on Monday at Chowgule college, Margao.
The players were present along with coach Mariano Dias, manager Lawrence Gomes and chef-de-mission Anthony Pango.
Salgaocar’s Bevan D’Mello, Milagres Gonsalves, Marcus Mascarenhas, Francis Fernandes, William Colaco, Cajetan Fernandes and Anthony Barbosa – all from Salgaocar were excused due to the club’s annual mass while John Dias and Cliffton Gonsalves were excused due to some personal commitments. Joaquim Abranches of Dempo who reported for the camp is unlikely to attend the camp further as he has still not recovered from a hamstring injury.
Mariano Dias who is leading Goa’s charge in defending their Santosh Trophy, spoke of the new role models in the team. He said, “We are disappointed to lose leaders such as Climax Lawrence and Mahesh Gawli due to their commitments with the India camp, but we have players such as Felix D’Souza, John Dias and Covan Lawrence who are experienced role models for the younger players.”
Custodian Felix was the last player to leave the training ground and it looks likely he will not relinquish the captain’s armband after his strong, commanding displays under the bar last time out.
The team members took part in a light training session, but are aware the workload will be stepped up on a daily basis. “The Churchill and Sesa players have been back in pre-season training for a while, but the Dempo, Sporting Clube and Salgaocar players will take a little time to adjust,” stated Mariano.
The squad of players which is currently touching 34 will have ten days to prove themselves, before the number is cut to 25. The final 20 players will leave for Kolkata on July 25.
Mariano is happy that they are utilizing the artificial turf at Chowgule college as the matches will be played on the artificial turf at Salt Lake stadium, Kolkata.
