Dempo Sports Club and Goan FC will throw sparkle to the Goa Football Association (GFA) 2019-2020 season through the charity match played for the benefit of Andrew Rodrigues from Vasco, at Duler stadium under floodlights this evening.
Traditional powerhouse of Goan football, Dempo SC will in their first match of the season, want to start with the intent to win whilst Goan FC to emphasise that the champions of 2018-19 cannot be easily over ridden.
Dempo SC has won once and lost three against their rivals and will want to start the season demonstrating zeal in reclaiming the title that have won before. Goan FC, on the other hand, is expected to use the evening as a warm up for the Durand Cup tournament, the team is expected to participate in, in a few days time.
“We are ready for the challenge. The team is set and the boys have had some good practice sessions. We have lost Jessel Carneiro and Jaison Vaz but their absence has been suitably covered and the frontline is promising to be sharper than last year,” Dempo SC coach Samir naik told The Navhind Times.
“The team that will be playing tomorrow will be using the game as a practice match for the Durand Cup. We are looking at the game as a warm up for the Durand which we will be leaving for on August 6. We started practice three weeks ago and have no injuries in our squad,” quipped Goan FC coach Clifford Miranda.
Dempo SC will probably rely on Pedro Gonsalves to do bulk of the scoring with the assistance of Aman Govekar, Beevan D’mello and Joaquim Abranches. Jaison Vaz, one prolific striker of last season, has switched to a club from Bengaluru.
Goan FC, on the other hand, will as usual depend on Liston Colaco for goals and assists. Liston who is part of FC Goa and had just over ten minutes playing with the senior team last season, has been the force around which Goan FC spins.
Sarineo is another FC Goa play that assists in the defence and could well be used by Clifford to up the ante of the team in their first match of the 2019-20.
The two teams played the last match of last season – which eventually decided the winner of Goa Professional League (GPL) – and Goan FC were far ahead of their rivals on that evening. Coach Samir Naik wants to set the trend back.
“The best team won the match on that day but I think it would be unfair to say that the best team won the title. Anyway, what happened happened and we cannot bring it to tomorrow’s game. My boys will play entertaining football,” promised Samir.
“We are looking at Thursday’s match as preparation for the Durand Cup,” emphasised Goan FC coach Clifford.
2019-2020 Season Charity Match
A Charity Match is generally an occasion when all officials and spectators pay for their entry as the money collected is handed over to the person on whose benefit the match is played. There have been Charity Matches in the past years when GFA Executive Committee members attended matches without purchasing tickets. The tickets for the match are priced at Rs 50 and Rs 200. Andrew Rodrigues was the organiser of the Bandodkar Shield organized by Baina SC in Vasco and a one timer executive committee member of GFA.
