THE MONTEIROS FROM CANDOLIM.
In my village Candolim, the tremendous amount of work done in the development and promotion of the game of soccer by Dr. Gustavo Monteiro was unique and the same cannot be equalled by anyone. If Candolim village soccer has attained such a solid base it was only because of the excellent work done by Dr. Gustavo Monteiro from 1955 approximately. It was during this time that he took over the reins of Candolim Sports Club and registered Candolim team into Goa Football Association.
The Candolim team then had gigantic players in its fold of which type are not even seen now for GOA XI. Some of them were named as: Goalkeepers Antonio (bokem-Orda St.Cruz) & Shripad (Vaddi); Defenders: Andrew Machado (Orda St.Cruz), Baba Naik (Bikulo) Annavaddo, Bushan (Vaddi), Koya (Sinquerim); Midfielders: Komal (Vaddi), Jose Marie (Araddi) & Madhu (vaddi); Forwards: Cheddo (Araddy), Babazinho Machado (Orda St. Cruz) & Reginaldo Soares (Orda St. Sebastiao); Outers –Left: Satchut (Vaddi) and Right: Luis – Papa (Vaddi).
Within a very short period, Candolim team was promoted to the Primeira Divisao which was the top division then engulfing in its fold all the elite foot-ballers from Goa, Portugal, Mozambique & Angola. In this Candolim team there were three brothers from Vaddi, namely: Komal – Madhu – Satchut and 2 brothers from Araddy namely Cheddo & Josemarie and 2 more brothers Andrew & Babazinho Machado from Orda St.Cruz. Babazinho Machado was such an excellent dribbler that such a dribbler even now I have not seen anywhere in India. Goalkeeper Antonio was so good that in diving for the ball from one end of the pole to the other was nothing for him, he was diving like a “Bokem” and precisely because of this he was nick-named as Bokem. The Centre Forward Cheddo was such a powerful sharp shooter that there is yet another Cheddo of that era to be born again. He had unique distinction of scoring a goal almost from the centre line from the current Candolim ground and his brother Jose was exceptionally gifted in scoring goals thru header from the corner kicks.
Within a short time the name of Dr. Monteiro spread all over Goa and even in Portugal as an expert in soccer who was responsible to raise the standard of the local village team to the pedestal as never happened in Goa before. The major financial burden of running the Candolim team was shouldered by himself only while some assistance coming from Mr. Silva another soccer crazy man from Candolim who combined well with Dr. Monteiro to enhance the quality of the soccer in Candolim. Then Dr. Monteiro was inducted in the GFA as its President thru the election process and shortly he was taken to Portugal as a mark of honour for his excellence in this field.
The gift of soccer ground by him to the Candolim Panchayat was the greatest act of sincerity any human being can do now especially in the post 19.12.61 period when an average Goan has become a totally corrupt man where he will do anything for acquiring money and more money. But Dr. Monteiro was not a corrupt man who would do anything for the sake of money and precisely because of this high calibre characteristic of his, he surrendered his rights and powers over the Candolim foot-ball ground to Panchayat.
This foot-ball ground area was acquired by the Nuns to build a Convent School there but due to some difficulties the Nuns have surrendered this area into the hands of the Patriarch of Goa and left Goa for elsewhere. Later on with his sincerity and perseverance Dr. Monteiro approached the Patriarch of Goa requesting the Goa Patriarch to hand over the ground to the Candolim youth to convert it into a foot-ball ground for them to play foot-ball and thus keep them occupied. In fact at that time there was an imperative need of foot-ball ground for Candoikars in the absence of one. Then the Patriarch of Goa handed over this ground into the hands of Dr. Gustavo Monteiro.
On 26th of this month, during the Candolim Graham Sabah Meet, in the light of his tremendous amount of contribution in the development and promotion of foot-ball in Candolim, it was decided to display the Portrait of Pe. Chico Monteiro the younger brother of Dr. Gustavo Monteiro whose efforts in developing Candolim soccer will remain written in the history book of Candolim in golden letters as this writer has done in his two masterpiece articles published in the book ”PADRE CHICO” – To The Manner Born, to mark the 100th birthday of the late Pe. Chico Monteiro. The contribution of Monteiros in the development of sports in Candolim in general and foot-ball in particular will always remain on the topmost position even though Pe. Chico’s involvement in Candolim started only after his exit from Lar at Panjim in early 1962.
Howerver, the contribution of Dr. Gustavo Monteiro was much deeper and most powerful than that of any other Candoicar and as such his Portrait should also adorn the wall of Candolim Sports Club along with that of Pe. Chico and moreover the Stadium that is under construction now by the Village Panchayat should be named only and only after Dr. Gustavo Monteiro as a fitting tribute to his enormous contribution in the development and promotion of Candolim foot-ball.
A.Veronica Fernandes.