This is in response to the series of articles on foot-ball penned down in this column by one of the well-known prolific writers on soccer in particular and sports in general, Irineu Gonsalves who himself was once upon a time a renowned foot-baller donning the colours of Goa’s famed Goan outfit Salgaocars. Being a footballer himself he surely had a taste of seeing big-big personalities not only players but even the administrators.
I am sure many of the readers of this piece must be aware who was Pe. Chico Monteiro from Candolim. In fact he was not only a priest but he was also a Monseigneur who preferred to call himself just as Pe. Chico only, hailing from that revolutionary village of Goa, known as Candolim that gave birth to that world renowned Abade de Faria the father of hypnotism and the Pintos revolutionaries that created such a powerful effect producing revolt, The Revolt of 1787 against the Portuguese rule in Goa. This revolution was created by the Roman Catholic Priests from Candolim, they were coming from the top aristocratic families, the houses of two of them even having been decorated with Brazao by the government of Portugal. Being so close to the Portuguese they never surrendered their birth right to fight for their rights for independence for Goa. However, alas, when they were right in time and about to implement their revolution, they were caught, many of them were brutally tortured and some were even hanged in Panjim on the especially erected Gallows near the Post Office in Panjim. From this incident one should know that the struggle that Goan Christians did for the freedom of Goa from the Portuguese no other community members did. All those non-Christians who try to defame the Christians by falsely telling that Goan Christians were the Chmchas of Portugal should take note of this Pintos Revolutionaries who were not only Christians but they were Priestly class of Goans. Besides I can cite so many evidences proving the great contribution of Christians in the promotion of the freedom of Goa.
Coming back to Pe. Chico Monteiro, somewhere in 1959 he went to Portugal to pay a goodwill visit there. Right in time when he was in Portugal, the Brazilian Selection soccer team came to Portugal to play 2 friendlies, this Brazilian team had topmost Brazilian footballers including Pele, Garrinha, Zagalo, Vava etc. Pe. Chico saw both the games and after finishing the first at Lisboa, he went inside to meet Pele in the dressing room but on the way itself he met Pele and got his signature as an autograph. This was considered at that time a big achievement by Pe. Chico and of course it was a big thing for a Goan to get in contact with Pele.
Now, while reading the different articles on the said subject written very beautifully by my friend Irineu Gonsalves, I must show my admiration to him not only meeting with some of the topmost former World footballers but also the top football administrators. What a wonderful job you have done Irineubab when you met even with Joao Havalange and even having a photo with him together and who was the highly reputed and respectable FIFA president for such a long period !! Besides, Havalange was instrumental in bringing so many changes in FIFA for the benefit and improvement of football Is it a small matter to meet and click photos together with the gigantic footballers of the yesteryear namely the great maestro Alfredo Di Stefano an Argentinian and Ference Puskas a Hungarian? It was very difficult to come closer to these two giants during those days because they were marked tightly by the securiity personnel. Somewhere in 1979 I read in Kuwait in the World Soccer Monthly Magazine an article written in that magazine saying that their rankings were much higher than that of Pele who according to W.S.Magazine comes on third place. Both Di Estefano and Puskas were exchanging passes without even looking at each other, one would know when exactly and at what moment the other one would be there to receive the ball, it seems both of them were having one extra eye at the back of their heads and it also looked like that they were making use of some type of telepathy. The power of Puskas left foot was so bombastic that could even break the hand of the opponent keeper. I was very fortunate to see some of his pictures in Kuwait from British Council when I was the member of this body. The W.S. Magazine going further said that since during the peak of their career, Marketing and TV propaganda was not there due to various reasons including the ill effects of the World War II, however the overall situation was totally different during the time of Pele’s peak. Secondly since they both deserted their own counties and settled in Spain representing the mighty Real Madrid they both were marked by their opponents and very often were threatened that disrupted their game plans. These threats demolished their concentration power on the ground and yet they achieved so much means not a joke.
The other photos our Irineu bab clicked together with the mighty Eusebio of Portugal who almost single handedly so to say, destroyed Portugal’s opponents one after the other in the 1966 World Cup with a magnificent hat-trick against North Korea in the quarter final, was a great achievement and as as a matter of fact this hat-rick was of rare quality and according to some pundits of soccer rarely one scored such a beautiful hat-trick in the World Cup earlier. Eusebio was highest scorer in that year’s World Cup. There is an inside story on this highest number of goals scored by Eusebio which he himself confessed this story in his autobiography “Meu Nome e Eusebio” he penned down immediately after the World Cup in 1966. The story goes like this: He knew he would create a dent in that W.Cup and having focused his eyes on this prize he made an agreement with his colleague Jose Agusto by name playing in the forward line along with Torres and Eusebio himself. This was the most deadly trio in that W.Cup where they used to interchange their positions with lightning speed just like more or less, what the quartet of our Goan Vasco’s A+B+C+D used to do, as I had an experience of the fury and technique of interchanging of their frontline positions and since I was the right back of Sesa Goa I knew this art of them very well. Once at Vasco more or less in 10 minutes I faced 4 different Vasco’s players playing at extreme left, one after the other, first it was Catao who was the regular left outer but when he found it difficult to outbeat me, he was replaced by Domnick, then by Andrew followed by Bernardo. Then Eusebio told Jose Agguto whenever he gets the ball and when it was easily possible for him without giving any doubt to anyone he should pass the ball to Eusebio for finishing especially in the penalty box of opponent and since Eusebio in the penalty Box is like a Shark in the ocean and with his powerful right footer from anywhere in the Box he could score a goal, thus the deal was finalized with the promise from Eusebio that a part of prize money will go to Jose Agusto.
Bobby Charleton another mighty soccer player of England and the brain behind England’s victory in 1966 W.Cup victory with whom our Irineubab clicked one photo that looks great. Bobby Charleton was decorated along with all other members of that World Cup 1966 winning squad by Queen Elizabeth with the titles of Knighthood. Besides, there may be some more photos that give a great pleasure for a true Goan to see Irineubab like football Ambassador meeting all those football greats.
A.Veronica Fernandes.