PANJIM: Goa’s Venson Paes scored the precious match-winner with just four seconds remaining to help India to a 2-1 victory against St Lucia and claim the men’s seven-a-side football gold at 2023 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Berlin, Saturday.
Tied 1-1 and with just four seconds to go, it was Venson who sprinted down the left and squeezed in a left-footed try past the St Lucia goalkeeper for a well-merited victory.
The teams had met earlier in the preliminary round which had ended in a 2-2 draw. There were in all, four Goans in the squad – Venson, Joel Rodrigues, Francis Parisapogu and Aman Nadaf.
“The key to our success is due to a strict training schedule, hard work from the players and support that we got from Special Olympics Bharat,” stated coach Kazmiro Fernandes.
“It took us pretty long time to secure the football gold and as such it is all the more memorable. We dedicate this gold to our country and especially to our Goa,” Kazmiro added. An emotional Parisapogu was ecstatic and said: “We owe this victory to God.”
Assistant coach Prakash Velip was elated with the victory as well. “This medal is truly a result of superb team effort. Everyone played their part well and we can bask in the glory that we are gold medal winners in football on a big international stage,” remarked Velip.
Goa also had further reason to celebrate as Aslam Babajan Ganjanawar bagged the silver in men’s judo competition. Ganjanawar finished second behind Marc Heij of The Netherlands while Sweden’s Rasmus Petterson took the bronze.
Manfil Ferrao was another Goan featuring in the medals tally as the men’s/mixed basketball Team Bharat won the gold with a 6-3 victory against Portugal.
Two Goan girls played a prominent role as India beat Chinese Taipei to claim the bronze in the unified women’s seven-a-side football.
Goa’s Gayatri Fatarpekar sood strong between posts, while teammate Kajal Jadhav was impressive in the defence as India ended third best in the unified football competition.
Goa has 13 athletes in team Bharat.
