Football: After India success, Salgaocar train gun on world finals

After the triumph in the India leg of the fourth Nike Manchester United Premier Cup here, Salgaocar look ready for a hard grind to show their mettle in the world finals.

Salgaocar defeated Raghav FC of Gurgaon 2-0 in the India finals of the under-15 tournament yesterday and coach Socorro Vaz is determined to prove that his side can compete at the global level where they are expected to be up against the best from Europe and South America in the world finals likely to be held in August next year.

“It was a sweet victory for us. It was not easy, losing to the same (final match) opponents in the group stage and winning the semi-finals (against St Stephen’s Football Academy) in penalty shootout. But hats off to my boys, they were determined to win the tournament,” he said.

“The world finals will be a big event for the boys, a life time experience. They will be playing against the best in the world in their age group — the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea or Barcelona. We have to work harder from now on and prove that we are no pushovers against the best in the world,” he told PTI today.

He said the team would play a lot of exhibition matches against senior sides and also train on the artificial turf available in Goa to acclimatise to conditions in England.

“Artificial turf is there in Goa. I hope club officials will ensure that the boys can train on it as we would be playing on them in England. But more importantly, we have to keep training and playing against senior sides,” he added.

Player of the tournament Brendon Fernandes could not hide his happiness that he and his teammates will visit Manchester and feels this will do a lot of good for their career.

Football:Salgaocar win Manchester United Premier Cup India finals

Goa’s Salgaocar Sports Club beat Raghav Football Club of Gurgaon 2-0 to win the India leg of the fourth (Under-15) Nike Manchester United Premier Cup and earned the right to represent the country in the world finals in Manchester, England

The Goan side, who lost to the same opponents in their last group match, came up with a vintage performance on Wednesday to emerge winners at the Nehru Stadium in Fatorda, Goa.

They also became the first team from India to directly qualify for the MUPC world finals without playing the regional finals.

Mohun Bagan and East Bengal, who won the India finals in 2006 and 2007, respectively, made it to the world finals after playing the regional rounds.

Last year’s winners, St Stephen’s Football Academy qualified for the regional round in Malaysia but failed to make it to the world finals.

Salgaocar, winners of the West Zone qualifying tournament, dominated proceedings and could have won the summit clash by a bigger margin. They scored in the 38th and 39th minutes through Quelon Fernandes and Nixon D’Castana, respectively, in the 40-minutes-a-half final.

The Gurgaon boys barely had a clear look at the opposition goal but will return home with heads held high as they made it to the final in their first appearance in the tournament.

Salgaocar’s midfielder Brendon Fernandes was adjudged Player of the Tournament.

An elated Salgaocar coach Socorro Vaz said his game plan to use short ground passes paid off and his boys deserved victory in the match.

“I told the boys to play ground passes because they (Raghav) are very strong in the air. My game plan was to hold the opponents in the first half and go all out in the last 10 minutes. But hats off to my boys, they played a superb game,” he said.

Salgaocar had beaten defending champions St Stephen’s Football Academy, Chandigarh 5-4 via sudden death in a pulsating semi-final earlier in the day after both sides were locked goalless in regulation time.

There was little to separate between Salgaocar and St Stephen’s with both playing an open and attacking game though the Goan defence was a bit busier protecting their goal.

Brendon, Nixon Fernandes, Romes Fernandes, Meldon D’Silva and Quelon scored while Amiruddin Shaikh missed the mark for Salgaocar in the tie-breaker.

For St Stephen’s, Golmei Marimdun, Suraj Singh, Umakanta and Abhisek Rawat found the target while Samarendra Luwang and Waris Rashid failed to score.

Raghav, the North Zone runners-up, made it to the summit clash after blanking Kalyani Municipal Academy 2-0 with goals from Ravi Kumar (25th minute) and Jaipal (41st).

Sikkim Football Academy were awarded the Fair Play Trophy.

Eight teams made it to the India finals after zonal rounds in the fourth edition of the tournament.

Kolkata clubs Mohun Bagan and East Bengal were barred from the India finals this year for age fudging.

Mohun Bagan were disqualified after three or more of their players were found to be over-age in the East Zone qualifiers in Gangtok (Sikkim) while East Bengal served suspension for the same offence committed last year.

The Under-15 Manchester United Premier Cup, held under the aegis of All India Football Federation, is considered a prestigious age-group meet in the country which allows young Indian boys to showcase their talent at the highest national and international level.