PANJIM: The 5th Edition of the GFDC Rising Star Football Festival was a great success with Parra in the U-10 Boys category, Arambol in the U-13 Girls category and Cuncolim in the U-13 Boys category emerging victorious at the ‘Tier –I’ final held on Sunday at the SAG Athletic Stadium, Bambolim.
Speaking at the occasion GFDC Chairman, Dr. Rufino Monteiro expressed the excitement and thrill in seeing the talent possessed by the girls and boys from the various centres. “I congratulate the winners, runners-up, coaches, centre heads as well as the trainees due to which this tournament was possible. With a vision for football our Chief Minister, Manohar Parrikar started GFDC five years ago to develop football in the state and we have worked hard to nurture and develop talent,” he said.
GFDC Council Member and Arjuna Awardee, Brahmanand Shankwalkar wished all the teams great success in their future. “We have seen some big talent being displayed as well as some silly errors which should be taken as lessons in life. During my playing days I have also let the team down with silly goals but those mistakes have allowed me to grow,” said Brahmanand.
The Chief Guest at the function was Sesa Football Academy Head Coach, Eduard Basart. He is the former Manchester United and FC Barcelona academy coach. Basart said “There is a vast difference in the player that I was and the coach I am today. A player should enjoy his training, learn what is taught and try to be better every day. These are the three important things to be a great footballer.”
In the final matches, Saish Gaonkar and Denver Rodrigues struck a goal each to help Cuncolim register a 2-1 win against Parra in the U-13 boys match. The lone scorer for the Parra side was Topan Nirj.
In the U-10 Boys match, Parra beat defeated Ambelim via tie-breaker, 2-1.
While in the U-13 Girls match, Arambol registered a solitary goal win over Utorda. The lone scorer in the match was Suhani Pednekar.
The GFDC Council members present at the function were Pradip Chodankar and Sanjeev Nagvekar. Also present was Sporting Clube de Goa coach, Peter Vales.
The following received the individual awards: Most valuable player U-10 boys category – Asher Rebello (Parra), Most valuable player U-13 boys category – Topan Nirj (Parra), Most valuable player U-13 girls category – Janet Mesquita (Utorda), Best goalkeeper U-10 boys category – Jaden Dsouza (Ambelim), Best goalkeeper U-13 boys category- Deva Verma (Cuncolim), Best goalkeeper U-13 girl category- Kina Karapurkar (Utorda), Outstanding player U-10 boys category-Tanish Simoes (Ambelim), Outstanding player U-13 boys category- Denver Rodrigues (Cuncolim)Outstanding player U-13 girls category- Suhani Pednekar (Arambol).
