King Jose turns 50

FOR 27-year-old Brazillian Jose Ramirez Barreto, life has come a long way indeed in the last five years.
Apart from the near-iconic status he enjoys in Kolkata and the Mohun Bagan football club, he has just got 50 National Football League goals older, the first player to do so in its eight-year history. An uncanny knack of smelling out goals, and an unwavering loyalty to the club he says "gave me everything". Simply put, Barreto rules as far as Bagan football goes.
On Sunday, the 28th of December, Barreto's brace against Sporting Clube in Margao assured him of pride of place in the annals of Indian football history. Starting with the 1990-2000 NFL, where he scored six goals playing second fiddle to Igor Shkvyrin, Barreto has scored 14, 15, 10 and 5 (so far) in the subsequent seasons.
But modest as he is, and god-fearing, "I'm just doing my bit as a player" he says. And continues to dream the one dream he has dreamt during his life as an honorary Bengali, playing for Brazil. But taking a reality check, he admits "football has a much bigger platform, and I am just one among many waiting in hope".
Barreto is electric once inside the box. It's something we are not used to seeing in India, and are accustomed to with the Ruud van Nistelrooys of the world. Barreto is a good finisher with exceptional positioning sense, speed both on and off the ball, the ability to take care of more than one opposition marker, and importantly, opening up spaces for the likes of Ashim Biswas to run riot.
At the moment though, with his international dreams on hold, "it's just the goals that matter" for this magician from the land that lives and breathes football. And the fans of the historic Kolkata club, for whom he is a one-man-army of sorts, are clearly not complaining.