Scintillating goals by skipper Bruno Coutinho and Baichung
Bhutia earned India a well deserved 2-0 victory over spirited Bangla Desh, to lift the glittering SAFF Coca Cola Football
Cup in the finals at the Nehru Stadium in Goa on May 1.
Guitars, cymbals, ghumots and crackers--the trappings of the Goa Carnaval--were all there while the crowd cheered,
and India applied pressure and dominated the proceedings. Despite the territorial superiority, the Indian forwards failed
to connect passes effectively, giving the impression that the vibrant Bangla Deshis, who put a fine display to defeat
Nepal in the semis, would carry the day.
In the 25th minute, however, India’s mercurial forward Baichung Bhutia, worked his way through the Bangla Desh defence
maze and minussed the ball to Bruno Coutinho from the left flank. Bruno, with a penchant for placing himself within the
scoring range, crowned India’s first-half dominance with a rasping drive to give India 1-0 lead. Bhutia scored a beautiful
goal in the last minute of the first half to raise the tally to 2-0.
Bangla Desh’s usual tactics of long passes which had proved effective against the other sides, proved rather futile
against the Indians today. But they did configure effective triangles, and strikers Mohammed Mizanur Rehman and Alfaz Ahmed
launched dangerous counter-attacks. However, India’s "iron man Robert Fernandes", "the last line in India's defence", and
Deepak Mondal were ever ready to weather any storm.
India brought into play every known trick in the book to dazzle the Dacca lads. Baichung, Bruno and Vijayan worked
tirelessly in search of goals. They were ably supported by Venkatesh, Ranjan and Jules Alberto in the midfield. And if the
team conceded just a lone goal throughout the tournament, the credit goes to the clean pair of hands of Virender Singh
under the Indian bar. Baichung was a constant thorn in any defence throughout the tournament.
India had to settle for a goalless draw in the opening
game with Bangla Desh but settled the score with the latter in the finals. In the game against Pakistan, they picked up
pace winning 2-0 to enter the semis. In the semi-finals they overcame Maldives 2-1 through hardworking Bruno Coutinho, who
emerged as the Most Valuable Player of that match bagging the Rs.10,000 Coca Cola cheque.
The second half of the India-Bangla Desh finals proved totally barren with both sides missing several sitters. In fact,
the Indian citadel had a close shave when goalkeeper Virender came out of his charge to collect a ball and got lost in the
melee. The opponents would have scored if the Indian defenders had not crowded them out. As if that was not enough, India
even survived a penalty in the later half of the second half, with the Bangla shot shaking the metal works and rebounding
into play.
This is the second win for India in succession in the SAFF tournament. The previous successes being in 1993 and 1997.
22-year-old Baichung Bhutia was adjudged the Most Valuable Player of the Tournament to bag the Rs.10,000 cheque as well as
Rs.25,000 as he was declared the Player of the Tournament.
Bruno Coutinho collected the winners cheque for $50,000 besides the gleaming trophy. Moreover, each member of the
winning Indian side was Rs.50,000 richer as a result of the victory. The win also goes a long way to improve India´s
stature in South Asian football. It also bettered India's aspirations to host the next Asian Games.
Former Indian goalkeeper Brahmanand Sancoalkar was feted on the occasion, for being the first Goan to have received
the prestigious Arjuna Award.
The chief guest, Goa Governor Jacob, said, "Football is the game Goans excel in. Goans love football. We must do something to encourage the game at the grassroots level, in the villages...by providing proper football grounds. We have a proposal to set a Football Academy to train youngsters."
Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Maldives had been training seriously for the tournament for a long time.
Tiny Nepal had engaged coaches Akramov and a German Spittler to trim their team. Hence, it was quite evident that it
would not be a cakewalk for India. But India's success is well summed up by the Maldives coach, Sulokov. He said, "Right
now India’s the strongest. It’s not possible for my team to win against the Indians."
Goa well positioned
This is the first time that India hosted the championship, conceptualised by the Asian Marketing Federation, with Goa
getting the privilege of organising it. In course of time, Bhutan and Afganisthan are likely to join the SAFF league.
PP Laxshmanan, the SAFF president, who considered this as the World Cup for South Asian football, feels that India
has quite a some way to go to be at par with Asian soccer giants like Korea and Japan. But with Goa emerging into a
crucial segment in the field of football, India is almost within sight of the covetted title, according to Laxmanan. The SAFF tournament has achieved resounding success through the organising capabilities of Albert Colaco and the Goa Football
Association, which has an excellent tradition in organising tourneys.
Lakshmanan commended the Goa Football Association for going professional. "The addition of one more team in the
National League will tilt the scales overwhelmingly in Goa's favour. Goa will be the strongest segment in Indian
football," Lakshmanan says.
Bravo Bruno!
Goa has been contributing immensely to the growth and standard of Indian soccer. Though Bainchung Bhutia was voted the
Player of the Tournament, Goa's Bruno Coutinho, did a lot of spadework to place India at the top of the South Asian soccer
table. Bruno is the Indian soccer star to be watched for a couple of years at least.
Bruno, the Salgaocar striker from Calangute, with fire in his boots, was denied his rightful due to lead India in the
last Asian Cup. But he was duly hailed as the "hero of India" by one of the commentators. Bruno, who has consistently
improved his on-field capabilities, returned to centre-stage proving that his unceremonious drop for the Bangkok Asian Games
could not deter the Goan spirit for soccer.
The Indian selectors certainly had some ulterior motive for not declaring Bruno as the skipper of the Indian side,
until the tournament eve. But Bruno didn't wilt. Like a good Goan, he took everything sportingly, and confirmed his worth
as the SAFF tournament progressed, despite being used a medio.
Bruno is a sharpshooter, who's place is among the strikers, but coach Sukhwinder Singh probably found that he was
needed to beef up the defence. If Sukhi's decision is well-intentioned, Goans have no quarrel, despite the hurt.
by Joel D´Souza
appeared in "GoaNow" May 1999