NAVELIM YOUTH CENTRE LIFT GLITTERING J. P. DMELLO TROPHY
INDIAN ICON SUNIL CHHETRI GRACES FINAL.
Navelim Youth Centre (NYC) inscribed their name on the glittering J. P. D’Mello Trophy when they subdued a fighting 10 men Indian Strikers FC 2-1 in the final of the KIFF League Championship organized by Kuwait Indian Football Federation and played at the Al-Qadsyia Stadium on Friday, 14th June 2013 at 6:30pm. The yearlong tournament featuring 18 teams from the expatriate Indian community in Kuwait was officiated by the Indian Football Referees Association (IFRA) and the final was sponsored by Gulf Cable & Electric Industries Company, Kuwait.
The final got underway when the day’s dashing host Kevin Vaz the Sports Secretary of KIFF welcomed the guest and KIFF General Secretary Praveen Kumar escorted Sunil Chhetri the captain of India Soccer Team and a special invitee of KIFF to the field to take the first kick, while both captains released symbolic balloons. Other dignitaries present in the VIP box were the chief guest first secretary Mr. Sushil Kumar on behalf of the Indian Embassy, the guest of honor, Naser Omran Kanan representing Gulf Cable & Electrical Industries Company, Asif Juzar owner of Pro Sports and all club presidents.
Indian Strikers FC making their first appearance in the KIFF League final started the game on the back foot with the experienced forwards of Navelim led by the opportunistic Cruzedio Rodrigues and Simao Gaunkar and ably supported by Sunford Cardoz and Bernardo Pires in midfield led wave after wave of attacks and it was only a matter of time before Cruzedio drew first blood when he headed in the first goal in the 20th minute of the first half off a corner kick. Samson who had a wonderful game, made it 2-0 from the penalty spot a little later, when defender Shihin of Indian Strikers acrobatically handled a goal bound ball , and referee Julio Cardoso had no hesitation in giving him the marching orders.
However after interval and with only ten men, the physically stronger and never say die Indian Strikers made a great comeback in the second half when one of their players was brought down in the box and Dustan Paul confidently converted to give his team a glimmer of hope. With the beating of drums and encouraged by their large number of supporters, Indian Strikers forward Roy Pathrose, Biju and Amada tried their level best to find the equalizer, but Navelim Youth Center had other plans and their defense held firm with Man of the Match and captain Duarte Ferrao marshalling from an unusual position of central defender, thwarted all the their attempts. The match ended 2-1 in favor of Navelim when the referee who was ably assisted by Francis Fernandes and Nicholaus Fernandes on the lines finally blew the whistle, much to the relief of the Navelim supporters.
Before the start of the final, the teams paid respect to the late J. P. D’Mello in whose memory the tournament is conducted and after the national anthems of both Kuwait and India were played, Fidelis Fernandes the President of Kuwait Indian Football Federation welcomed the guests and thanked the participating teams as well as the officiating body IFRA. Sunil Chhetri in his brief speech thanked KIFF for inviting him to Kuwait and said he was very impressed with the way the Indian Expatriate community promoted the game of soccer in Kuwait. During half time, The Federation also made time to honor Mr. Raymond D’Sa the longest serving president of Goan overseas Association (Goa Maroons) for his selfless service to the community and Indian soccer while Fr. Francis (Franco) Pereira Sdb., was also felicitated for his contribution to promoting soccer among the youth and for having completed 25 years of priesthood. Both the awards to the distinguished gentlemen were given by KIFF President Fidelis Fernandes.
In the prize distribution ceremony, Navelim Youth Centre swept all the individual trophies with Man of the match being rightly won by Duarte Ferrao and given by Kevin Vaz, Best Goalkeeper Britto Pereira given by Stephen Fernandes, best defender was Alfred Pires and given by Seby Dias, best midfielder was Bernardo Pires given by Joseph Gomes and best forward was Cruzedio Rodrigues and the award was given by Mrs. Rauzat Juzar.
The runners-up and individual trophies were given away by the guest of honor Naser Omran Kanan to Dustan Paul the captain of Indian Strikers and the players, while Fidelis Fernandes and Sunil Chhetri jointly gave away the winner’s trophy and individual trophies to Duarte Ferrao of Navelim Youth Centre and their players. Mrs. Aratha Fernandes gave away the trophies to the Referees.
AVC Sports & Cultural Association under the captainship of Kevin Vaz were declared the ‘Seasons Champions’ and this is the 5th time AVC - Kuwait have been awarded season championship by KIFF in a span of 12 years from the club inception . In this season AVC - Kuwait accumulated the maximum number of points to win the championship after winning the season ending NYC trophy. The glittering trophy was collected by Alvaro Dias and given away by Mr. Sushil Kumar. The Rolling Trophy was given away by Sunil Chhetri and collected by Vincy Pereira on behalf of his club. Striker Anthony Rodrigues of AVC – Kuwait was also awarded the highest goal scorer for the season and besides the trophy given away by Praveen Kumar, Anthony also received a gold coin from the hands of Mr. V. K. Vohra.
The Fair Play Trophy for being the best disciplined team during the season was won by Real Betalbatim FC and it was collected by the club president Vijay Gonsalves and given away by KIFF V. President, Derrick Gomindes .