Dempo’s resurgence

Published : Nov 15, 2008 00:00 IST

The Dempo team that made the semifinals of the AFC Cup.-K. RAMESH BABU
The Dempo team that made the semifinals of the AFC Cup.-K. RAMESH BABU
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The Dempo team that made the semifinals of the AFC Cup.-K. RAMESH BABU

After a horrible spell in the beginning of this decade, Dempo Sports Club has bounced back. Over to V. V. Subrahmanyam.

Dempo Sports Club (Goa) was a team which faced the threat of being disbanded for appalling form and lack of creativity in 2001. That was the phase when the big bosses toyed with the idea of closing shop as even the efforts to inject Brazilian flair by recruiting new coach Fransisco Gonsalves failed to click. Club secretary Antonio Botelho even fumed that Gonsalves had not become one with the team and that there were too many players wanting to play according to their own whims and fancies.

But then things began to get better in 2004 when Dempo won the National Football League and the Federation Cup in the same year. And, in 2007, Dempo staged one of the most stunning comebacks in Indian football, winning the NFL. The next year it triumphed in the inaugural I-League championship. This performance made the delighted DSC President, Srinivas Dempo, announce a cash incentive of Rs. 23 lakhs. “I felt launching a football academy would have served a better purpose rather than running a professional, high-profile team,” he had said.

“Ever since we reposed faith in Armando Colaco as coach in 2001, the team has hardly looked back. We give ourselves three years to win the AFC Cup,” Srinivas Dempo asserted. Well, within months, Dempo moved one step closer to carving another piece of history before faltering in the semifinals. But, by then Dempo had already created history of sorts by becoming the first-ever club from India to quality for the semifinals of the AFC Cup club championship.

Just when everything looked gloomy, the ever-trying Armando Colaco brought in the much desired change both in terms of outlook and performances on the field. It was an inspirational sight to see the coach, recuperating from a broken leg — suffered in an accident towards the latter half of the last season — defying doctor’s advice to be present in Calicut on the final day of the I-League to boost his team’s morale.

Now, Dempo has turned out to be a shining example of how far an Indian football club can go in the Asian circuit if only it plays to potential and as a wonderful collective unit. “This (AFC semifinal) is the most important achievement for all of us. We targeted quarterfinal and feel great to have moved one step ahead,” Colaco pointed out. “This was possible just because of the hard work and collective brilliance of the entire team,” said Armando in a chat with Sportstar.

“We don’t normally panic if something goes wrong. The boys stay focussed and keep looking forward. For instance, in the on-going I-League, we lost two and then won two. So, we don’t make much noise,” said a very relaxed Dempo coach.

He insists that his team loves to attack and attack and that is the reason why it always prefers the 4-4-2 formation. Well, in the last two years Dempo has won 21 games and lost only five!

Looking back, how difficult was it for Colaco to bring about this revival in Dempo’s fortunes? “Credit goes to the then senior players like Francis Fernandes, Mario Soares, Dominic and D’Cruz, who ensured that the bosses kept faith in the club and dropped the idea of disbanding the team. Now, they all stand vindicated,” Colaco said. He thanked Srinivas Dempo for all the moral support during the crisis.

Dempo’s march to the semifinal of the AFC Cup was no fluke. First it got the better of Home United (Singapore) in the double-leg quarterfinal with a one-all draw in the home game and then won 4-3 in the away leg.

No doubt, it was a tame end to a wonderful campaign in the AFC Cup when Dempo was outplayed by the more professional Safa Club (Lebanon). The Lebanese side held a narrow 1-0 lead from the first-leg in Beirut and Dempo desperately needed a victory by a two-goal margin to enter the AFC Cup final.

But that was not to be as Mohammad Kassas netted twice in the first 17 minutes to snuff out Dempo’s challenge. Though Congolese striker Mboyo Iyomi reduced the margin with a header, it was the turn of substitute Hussain Tahan to strike twice in the last seven minutes as Safa cruised into the AFC Cup final with a 5-1 aggregate win in front of empty stands.

“The two goals we conceded in the first 20 minutes really upset our plans. Our defence was not up to the mark. But this was expected as it was a must-win game for us and we had only one option: to attack. We needed to go all out. But I am certainly not dispirited now. Still, we proved a point or two in the AFC,” Colaco explained.

The Dempo coach signed off with a message to his fans: “A great future beckons Dempo as the players have started believing in themselves. And they are in the mood to put behind the temporary setbacks and focus on the targets on hand!”

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