When Lume Pereira had the last word on football

“Herbert gets the ball from Dionisio and after dodging past Arnold sends a nice long through pass to Francis who is chasing the ball. Francis runs faster than the Salgaocar defender, controls the ball with his left leg and unleashes a powerful right footer. Goalkeeper Brahmanand stretches himself to his right and punches to ball for a corner. What a save! When it looked like the ball was going to enter the net, the Salgaocar goalkeeper come up to his sides defence. As Herbert prepares to take the corner for Dempo, I hand you over to my friend Benau for further commentary in Konkani……………Devborem korum, Lume…….”

Football commentary was a must in the seventies when seats at playgrounds were scarce.  In those days, there were no stadias. With no TV, the commentary provided by All India Radio (AIR) was the only way ardent football fans could conjure how their favourite clubs and players performed.

Goa in those days had two famous commentators- Francisco Lume Pereira in English and Jeremias Benaum in Konkani. “For further commentary in Konkani, I hand you over to my friend Benaum “, were the famed words of Lume when he handed over the mike to Benaum . And then, the tattle would continue in Konkani.

Lume started commentary in 1972. He came to be selected as a local commentator by virtue of his excellent sports reportage for the only English daily published from Goa-The Navhind Times where he was a part-time reporter for sports and paid per column centimetre, his pocket money. That was the time AIR was introducing its sports service in India on their National hook up.  It was started on November 19, 1972 on Indira Gandhi’s birthday when the Santosh Trophy was held in Goa. That is when Lume met with the then famous journalists from Mumbai ATP Sarathy of the Indian Express and K Bhaskaran from the Times of India. The trio formed a set up that brought football live into the minds of listeners- when travelling to the ground was difficult.

The Bandodkar Gold Cup, The Police Cup, the Nationals and even international tournaments – when the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in Fatorda was built- were broadcast live by AIR. Those were the days when football was feverish.

Commentary on radio is different from what we hear on TV. The former recreates the magic on the field in one’s mind while the latter is restricted to comments on what we see. “I was used to listening to football commentary on Portugal radio. Football commentary from Portugal was famous in those days. I adapted the style in English’,” avers Lume, recalling his good old days with the mike in hand.

When a goal was scored it was said: Gooooal in the BBC commentary broadcast in those days. But, when a goal was scored in Goa Lume said: “it was theeeere”.But in India , no one would understand what was meant by ‘it was theeeeere’. That was Lume’s signature

“Some matches were a real challenge. The high speed games were demanding.  In those days, many teams fielded players with neither names nor numbers on their jerseys. Identification of players was difficult. We had to depend on the styles of players to recognise them. The Santosh Trophy semi-finals between Goa and Bengal was hair raising. Keeping up with the tempo of the game was a task. Goa lost. But, the game was one of my favourites,” recollects Lume. “But, not all matches were exciting. There were matches that were a bore. Translating stupidities on the field can be a problem,” admits Lume.

“Andrew from Vasco Sports Club was a player I liked to watch. During those days, Vasco SC had the largest fan following. The next team was Panvel,” recollects Lume.

“Goan public has lost the passion for football. They find that the teams are not exhibiting the football they like to watch. This is the problem. Why would you go to watch a game where the football played is different from what you think it should be? After watching some much of good football from the world over on TV, the fans expect more on the field in Goa. The standard of football is so miserable. This is the main reason why, there are no fans in the stands today,” remarks Lume Pereira.

“There has to be a revolutionary concept to promote football if we expect the crowds to come back. The ISL (Indian Soccer League) is the best thing that has happened to football in India. The ISL, it looks like, is going the IPL way. The IPL has been good for cricket. So, I think football is in for better days,” states Lume.

“Football is not in a road block. In India in general and Goa in particular it  is going through some hiccups. It is a sport that cannot be killed because it is a  world sport . If football dies in India, India will lose. Not football, “opines Lume.

“Football is life, the rest is mere details,” Lume says in conclusion.