Fc Goa have advantage Zico

With five days remaining for FC Goa to start their campaign in the 2016 edition of the Indian Super League (ISL) four players – Gregory Arnolin, Subhashish Chowdhury , Denzil Franco and Luciano Sobrosa- are the road to recovery. From among them, Gregory is crucial but with Zico managing the ship and Lucio steering, the first tie will not much disturb FC Goa’s plans of winning the third edition of this competition.

FC Goa head coach Zico has been the star of the ISL and the brains that have seen the club manifest itself in vibrant colours with umpteen injuries in the last two editions of the tournament. Defender and captain Lucio has steadied the ship since his arrival last year and going by the way the team has started its practise in Goa – the ride should not be bumpy this time too.

FC Goa have started with nine defenders and midfielders and three strikers and goalkeepers. From the practise – that started at 3.40 pm and winded up at 5.50pm – Zico appears to be gauging the best from among the lot at his disposal and the Brazilian will this year to expect his boys to play anywhere.

Defenders Gregory Arnolin, Luciano Sobrosa and Denzil Franco along with goalkeeper Subhashish Chowdhury did not practise with the team at Nagoa grounds yesterday. From the four, Gregory appears closest to gain recovery before FC Goa’s opener.

The recovery of  the other three  will not worry the head coach much- unless there are unexpected injuries through the season-  as  he seems to have buffered the FC Goa line up with some judicious  foreign signings. The new foreign signing looked young; slender in the manner they tackled the ball and quick. If their presence has not decreased the average of the team, the overall speed of play looks to have been taken to a higher tempo. This in itself will be advantage designed by Zico before the start of the ISL.

Laxmikant  Kattimani is definite to start below the horizontal.

Lucio, Rafael Dumas and Gregory Arnolin should be the starting three  ,if not , Zico will have to choose from Fulganco Cardozo, Keenan Almeida, Debabrata Roy and Raju  Gaikwad. Fulganco played on the left for a major part of training yesterday and was often advised by the coach where he should be positioning himself. From nine – even with two recovering from injury- Zico appears to have a lot to choose from.

With nine midfielders, the midfielders too appears spoilt for choice. A team is entitled to play with six foreign players. With three in the defense, Zico will have to decide whether to take three in the midfield and leave the strike to Robin Singh or give Rafael  a chance- he looked sharper then Robin during practise today – or expect the midfielders to play a more advancing game as they did last season.

From the nine midfielders at his disposal, Romeo Fernandes could get the first nod in going by his form in practise. Joffre should start along with either Julio Cesar, Richardson or Trinidade  Goncalves (the new trio from Brazil). Mandar Rao Desai may find a nod – depending on where his final pick of six foreign players. Pratesh Shirodkar and Sahil Tavora will have to wait.

FC Goa had a problem last season- the team became over reliant on Reinaldo as one of their foreign players started the season with an injury and hence could never recover to play. The story appears different today. Though it has three strikers, the onus appears to be falling either on Rafael or Robin Singh.

Between Rafael and Robin, the former showed more skill, anticipation and ability to strike aerially or with shots. The latter is more of an aerial play and has really not played in India after his injury with Delhi Dynamo in the last ISL. Yet, he showed promise but Zico is not the type to take promises lightly.

Football is not fun; it is funny !

India is out of the AFC U-16 Championship and out of the cradle of Asian football. Pragmatically, the one year long training has proved results, the best of which is that a baby needs time to grow. India is witness to the growth of football.

Football has been evolving world over through a time when the emphasis was on developing organising skills instead of developing the game- feeding the mother, thinking the baby will grow stronger, instead of focussing on the game. What we have is a skewed baby.

It has been a year now that team India is being put together and the AFC U-16 Championship has shown that with a year left for the World Cup, we are still far behind. Honestly, we may never reach the post in a years’ time and it will be an occasion for many to say – at least a start is being made.

As a team, India has taken great strides in preparing the youngsters physically for the competition. The boys have been fit; have been robust; and have been able to match their counterparts physically in most spheres of the game.

Physical is one aspect of football. Skill is another; mind-set is still another and the ability to read the opponent is yet another. There are many sides to this coin of football and to expect the boys to understand all is being harsh. Yet , one thing is sure- the AFC U-16 Championship has thrown up a goalkeeper who will make many sit and start singing to many happy goalkeeping days.

Dheeraj Singh was the best Nicolai Adam has given India in the championship. There are others waiting on the wings to burst. But, Dheeraj has burst and now needs to be given the chance to bloom. If he does not go far then it is a sign that there is something seriously wrong with Indian football. A wrong we are too scared to address.

India has scored five goals and conceded nine. Definitely not an average that speaks well of the defense . Yet, given the saves- not all of which were instinctive- Dheeraj was the last line in the defense that gave the few thousands who came to witness the match a lot to carry on for the future of football in India.

Boris, Aniket, Raman were the other boys who stood out in this group that has been pushed through passing time  to get ready for the World Cup. The strikers, the midfield players and defenders have stood up during the AFC but it is time they start taking steady stride if they do not want to feel like novices in the world stage.

India needs to have game plans and not a game plan. Playing is physical as well as mental. Being strong is good but being strong and steady is better. There need not be a change in focus but a few turns and twists could go a long way in making us weigh our progress globally.

Too expect this group to do India proud during the World cup is outlandish. They could not do it now; they will not be able to do it later. Not all but at least a few. For that change to happen the scouting system will have to be re-invented all over again and the Indian boy will have to believe that merit is the criteria of selection and nothing else.  Let us separate politics from sports, for a change.

India is a country of billions and yet it has been difficult to find eleven boys who can play football. From all the States, we managed to pick boys from a few states that are relatively new to football. It is here that the problem lies.

It is futile pointing fingers at Nicolai because Nicolai is not India. India needs to change, not Nicolai.

Sports in India have always been afflicted with problems because of the lack of moral policing. There is too much of cheating, nepotism. Fair play is something that sports is new to. Football is not fun; football is funny. This is the problem India has to address itself if it wants to prepare for the world Cup next year.

Let’s stop being funny and let the boys have fun!

FSDL is shutting the wrong door on the right people

Football in India is going through its worst times because the ball is being replaced by money. Talking about money is easy. Writing is not. They used to say, to cover a lie, one has to tell a hundred. This is going out of rationalist realms.

The ISL, many thought, would change football in India. By that we were meant to believe money would flow to Indian players. Honestly, nothing like that has happened in the last two years. Money has flown. Instead of cleaning Indian homes it has helped the rich be richer. Money in the ISL has helped foreign players, foreign coaches and foreign support staff.

Make in India does not mean, get foreign players to play in India. Make in India does not mean Indian coaches should have licenses to coach and foreign ones can get away with it. Make in India does not mean foreigners can flout rules- marquee players being appointed as coaches- while Indians have to be taught rules.

Make in India means an Indian enjoying watching another Indian play good football.

All of a sudden, football is being coined as a beautiful game. What is beautiful, the money or the way a ball is kicked. Football lovers, at least in Goa, have been sucked into a confusion that has been perpetuated by FSDL.

Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) today reads more like – Financially Sound Development Limited. The ball has got lost or muddled with money. To make money is necessary. But, at the cost of sports? Have the rich gone bankrupt on how to make more money, so suck on football? Many a times when excuses are tabled as reasons, one gets sucked into a vortex that eventually spills ill will.

If, to make money was the intent to help football AIFF or FIFA should have been asked to grant ISL perennial permission.  But don’t kill football by trying to eliminate those who have nurtured football for years. Do atheists pray to God?

It appears that so much money has been washed down on AIFF that the boss does not know grass, grain or gender. This is not a paradox; it is a simple anecdote on money. Nuances do not come with money. In the end, there are just two things we all know: 1- we all die;2- we all leave money behind.

So, where do we go from here?

When the ISL started, many said it was too early to comment, Let us give it time. Two years and out and it looks like ISL’s existence was etched from long. It was never seen because it was laid on a cushions of money .That money is spilling on the streets now just the way we used to wash our linen in public. There is no difference. Money talks and man walks bare.

Unfortunately, football is being stripped now. Is that why it is a beautiful game?

All of a sudden there is talk that India needs to grow in FIFA rankings. Surely it needs but first, we have to grow as humans and the best way of showing that is by leaving the ball with the foot. Simple. Let the girls and boys play and as they play, they will grow. When they grow, they will realise what they need to do with the money. Not I or you.

Boycotting a prize distribution ceremony or filing a police complaint against a foreign player is not a crime. What would have happened if Elano was an Indian? The reason forwarded was , with this precedent other foreign players would think twice before wanting to come to pay in India. Mendy came, months after the incident, and the lesson is clear– if the money is good, any player will go anywhere. They came to India not for the love of FSDL but for the love of the money. Plain simple truth understood by people who only understand money.

Let us stop pretending.

What really exposed FSDL was the manner it went about laying the sanctions on FC Goa. It was not the fines that exposed them but the docking of the fines and the suspensions on two of the owners. They say , let the cat out of the bag. In this case, the FSDL let out their ego and it when scurrying around every house, every filed, every mountain and every waterhole available in India. This was a family problem with pan Indian connotations. Poor football in Goa was being soiled in a dirty game.

It is a game that none of us are interested in because what matters to us is our rice and curry and how john passes the ball to peter and how bruno scored. What the referee did and how we kept ourselves warm with a tot of caju on our way home from a rain infested match.

Loud music is good. The screen effects are good. The camaraderie is good. The pitch can be the best. Yet the players were far from the best and yet we came not because football is a beautiful game but a game we all love.

India opened its doors to FSDL. There was glitz; there was glamour but there was little of football. Yet , we did not complain. And , the door we opened is being shut on us all.

Football does not need FSDL. FSDL needs football because, in life, we know the rich always want to be richer. If the air is too much, a ball bursts. This time though, the foot will not feel the pain for the scars will be on FSDL!

Drohini wins bronze for India surviving on juices for four days at the World Champonship

Sixteen Indians participated in the World Martial Arts Masterships in South Korea. Eleven came back with medals-  one silver and ten bronze. One of them was Goa’s Drohini  Vasant  Gavde. Despite her achievement at the world stage, Drohini continues her daily routine in Priol , cooking for the family,cleaning and practising Kurash twice a day.

Kurash is an Arabic form of wrestling where in the victors throws the loser on the ground staying up on his own feet. In wrestling both get soiled; in Kurash the one who is thrown loses. This and the uniform used is what basically differentiate a wrestler from a Kurash player.

Kurash is expected to be included for the 2020 Olympics.

Twenty three year old Drohini is happy for winning the bronze on the world stage. The daughter of a labour worker at the Engineering College in Farmagudi she is unfazed by the lack of attention to her achievement. “ I had to go to New Delhi by train and from there we flew to Korea. During my four days at the completion I drank only juice. I could not eat food because all the food served by them contained beef and I had no money to eat out,” recollects Drohini with no traces of ill feelings.

“My mind was focussed on winning during the competition. Food really did not matter. It was only when I won that I sent a message to my parents to keep some food for me when I reached home. I did miss eating food but I knew I had to ignore the hunger,” admits Drohini.

There is a Kurash Association in Goa and Uday Dangui is the president. The Association is recognised by the Goa Olympic Association (GOA) and is expected to gain recognition from the Sports Authority of Goa (SAG) . The President of the Kurash Association in India is Jagdish tytler. Yet for her trip to Korea , Drohini had to depend on the largesse of Govind Gavde from Priol.

“He paid for my full trip. Right from my fare from Goa and back and even the hotel room and food in Korea, everything was paid for by Gavde. I got no help from anyone else,” says Drohini showing no signs of neglect from the authorities or the government.

Unlike many girls, Drohini took to wrestling at the age of seventeen and from then on she has been winning medals for Goa through the Goa University where she excelled as a wrestler. She was the best judoka in the Goa University for two years, during which time she completed her BCom.

 After having won the bronze , Drohini knows she has the ability to go higher and bring greater laurels for her country . But, she does not dare dream big. She realises with no government backing there is little she can fall on. “If Kurash becomes an Olympic sports I would like to compete and bring a medal for India ,” says well-built Drohini. “If I am unable to realise this Olympi dream I want to start training children and popularise the sport in Goa. I hope I will get a job as a Kurash coach at some stage and am able to give back what I learnt,” says Drohini unassumingly. “Winning a gold may look unrealistice. Teaching the children in my village is not,” concludes Drohini.

GFDC should stop playing with football grounds

The football ground in Santa Cruz finds itself mired in controversy ever since it has been handed over to Goa Football Development Council (GFDC) to run its centre. On one idle of the fence sit the locals who believe they have right to use the ground and on the other, GFDC officials who believe they have the right to charge for the use of the ground. If at all this persists, the youth of Santa Cruz stand to suffer.

“ Around six grounds were handed over to GFDC so that they could be used to run their centres. It is clear that they cannot charge the locals for the use of these grounds. If the locals are being charged, they should inform me. I have received no complaint from any one right now,” V M Prabhu  Desai , Director of Directorate of sports and Youth affairs (DSYA) told The Navhind Times.

In a letter (copy with this newspaper) dated February 1,2016 to GFDC , Prabhu Desai wrote: “The maintenance of the above said playgrounds may be undertaken by your council at your own cost. Besides the above playground should be made available to the local youth, schools, clubs and Directorate of sports for their activities as per their request.”

DSYA were officially intimated that GFDC was charging for the ground in Santa Cruz  on June 20 , 2016 when in a letter addressed to DSYA Director Prabhu Desai , GFDC informed him: “ This is to inform you that this office had received a circular from SAG no SAG/COMP/RENTAL CHARGES/2015/3820  dated 02/02/2016 giving revised rates of play and pay schemes for various sports infrastructure. These rates were put before the Goa Football Develoment Council and a resolution was passed by the council in its meeting dated 29^th April 2016 to adopt the same rates for usage of grounds under the GFDC by private parties and others. Accordingly, against request from Shri Manual Fernandes GFDC had informed that they would have to pay charge of Rs 800 /- per day from 25^th April 2016 to 25^th may 2016 for the use of the said ground.total amounting to Rs 24,800….”

“Once the ground has been allotted to us it is our property. I have written to the Director of DSYA and have intimated it to him that no charges are imposed on local clubs if they need to practise on the ground or they  host tournaments for their boys. However, we charge when tournaments are held and outside teams are invited. This has been decided at a council meeting,” stated GFDC Member Secretary  Aleixo De Costa.

Recently, St Anna Sports and Cultural Association from Santa Cruz organised a football tournament for boys under 14 and girls under 17. “ I wrote to DSYA and my letter was directed to GFDC. At GFDC I was told that the club would have to pay for the hire of the ground. I then decided to write another letter to GFDC asking them to be the joint organisers of the tournament and extended an invitation to be chief guest to the chairman,” (copies of the letters in our possession) stated club secretary Custodio Araujo.

Most GFDC centres use grounds for about an hour a day. In some centres it is a little more.

Grass roots needs seeds

When around ten athletes had lost and more than a hundred were still in the fray in Rio, Indians had almost lost their breath and given up. This was one of the unfortunate lessons in India about the Olympics.

Individual sports are not looked at collectively while collective sport is not viewed individually. Sports in India cannot move forward because the baby is expected to walk when it has still not begun to crawl.

Shooter Bindra in one of his interviews said: “There is no grass root in India.”  Grass roots are where it all is supposed to start and for that start to happen, the seeds are required. We cannot expect grass or its roots when the seeds are yet to be sought to be laid.

The foundations can be laid when the surface is solid. The problem with us in India is – the foundation is always fluid. Favouritism takes centre stage in most places and the good is sacrificed to cronyism. So, talent is snuffed at inception and what we get is morsels .And, morsels never make for a good meal. Filling the stomach and feeding a stomach is not the same.

If, many of us in India began to give up hope before the battle could even really commence it is because most of us are aware of the malady that inflicts sports in India- gross favouritism. We know it and that is why we are right in our pessimism.

The problem with us in India began before we could even leave. Wrestling had to be settled by a court and the manner in which it was done was in itself ridiculous. That was the signal something is ailing sports in India. Instead of confronting it, shortcuts were formulated and the wrong doers – if there were any- were left to go scot free with an opportunity to strike again.

Grass roots are the only way forward if our intentions are laced with honesty. The purpose should be to allow the best to survive. It does not matter who the best is or are. As long as the best are acknowledged, best results will come.

And, it is always not necessary that the best wins because the best in India may not necessarily be the best in the world. As long as an individual gives his all, that is the best expected from him. What is gold for one may be silver or bronze for the other. What is important is that they all stand together as winners.

Respect. Trust.  Truth. In sports, for one to prosper, all these elements and more have to participate. This is where grass roots start.