MAPUSA: Marquee player Cafu failed to convert golden opportunities which came his way as Goa 5’s went down fighting against Kochi 5’s 1-2 in the second semi-final of Premier Futsal League played at Peddem Sports Complex, Mapusa, on Saturday.
Kochi 5’s will now take on Ryan Giggs’ Mumbai 5s in debut final on Sunday, at 8 p.m..
The game was literally a battle between two legends – Kochi 5s’ Michel Salgado and Goa 5’s Cafu. The duo may have been retired for years but they went toe-to-toe on the pitch and the crowd witnessed a physical battle of proportions not seen before in the tournament.
Salgado was at his very best and ever-present on the pitch as he ran things for the Kochi side while Cafu also had his chances on goal to give the home side the lead but the first quarter ended 0-0.
However, Kochi soon took the lead with a scintillating goal from Chaguinha.
Running across the pitch with the ball and under pressure from Rafael, Chaguinha chipped the ball past the advancing goalkeeper Bebe to find the back of the net.
Rafael almost made up for his error at the other end when he let fly a fierce strike that beat Casalone but came off the post.
The second half saw, Goa quickly find their foothold in the game and it was Vampeta, who scored the equalizer. A patient build-up saw him play a one-two with Georgievsky, and receive the ball near the edge of the area to fire in a thunderous shot that found the roof of the net.
But the equalizer did not last long. A bit of complacency saw Chaguinha steal in between the defence and goalkeeper Bebe to simply put his foot in the way to prevent the goalkeeper from holding on to the ball. The move worked and the ball trickled into the goal uncontested to give Kochi the lead for the second time.
Goa threw everything they could at Kochi in the final quarter but just couldn’t find the target. A deflected shot came off the underside of the bar while a penalty call for a foul on Cafu was waved away by the referees. If they did find a way through, Casalone stood strong in goal.
Kochi managed to hold on in spite of sustained pressure from Goa and the final whistle saw the Kochi players celebrate with their inspirational player Salgado while Cafu was denied a chance to play in the final. Chaguinha also became the top goal scorer and took the Golden Armband after his eighth goal in the tournament.
In the earlier semi-final, Angelot stole the limelight by scoring a hat-trick as Ryan Giggs’ Mumbai 5’s thrashed Kolkata 5’s 4-2 to seal the final berth.
The game started in its typical fashion with several short passes by both teams to settle in and the first opportunity came Chanpreet’s way in the second minute, which was shot wide.
Angelot broke the deadlock in the 8th minute as he sent Cidao the wrong way and put the ball in the empty net. Foglia could have doubled the lead a minute later, but hit it straight to Cidao on the break.
Mumbai continued to dominate the second quarter, as Angelot put another one in the net in the opening minute.
Foglia missed another chance a couple of minutes later as he hit the side-netting. Mumbai 5’s kept the pressure on the Kolkata 5’s by keeping possession and breaching the Kolkata defence. Ramirez scored the third for Mumbai from a very tight angle. At half time, Kolkata looked absolutely clueless and had no answers to Mumbai’s strike force.
Mumbai looked to be in complete control, until goalkeeper Luis Almado ventured to the halfway line and a misdirected pass was shot into the empty net by Carioca.
Mumbai defence was caught napping for the second time in two minutes as Gabriel’s calm finish reduced the difference to just one goal. With several incomplete moves, wide shots and through balls which didn’t find anyone to receive it.
The third quarter was below par. But, Kolkata reduced the deficit to just one goal from being three goals down. With everything to play for, Kolkata sent Cidao up to add a man in the outfield and Angelot completed his hat-trick by rolling the ball into the empty Kolkata net.
Mumbai’s fourth put a dent into Kolkata 5’s hopes. Mumbai 5’s kept possession and made the Kolkata team work hard for a touch. At the final whistle, Mumbai 5’s became the first team to register their place in the final of Premier Futsal’s debut season.
