Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: Football Coach Armando Colaco has scripted history as the first Goan to receive the prestigious Dronacharya Award in the lifetime category, India’s highest recognition for coaches.
President Droupadi Murmu conferered Dronacharya Award (Lifetime), 2024 on Armando Agnelo Colaco in recognition of his outstanding achievements in Football.
He has trained many outstanding Athletes including Mahesh Gawli, Climax Lawrence, Sunil Chhetri, Anwar Ali, Anthony Pereira and Samir Naik.
These players have won Silver medal in 2002 SAFF Cup, Gold medal in 2005 SAFF Cup, Silver medal in 2008 SAFF Cup, Gold medal in 2012 SAFF Cup and Gold medal in 2002 LG Cup.
Dempo Sports Club achieved a first for any Indian club during his tenure, winning a record five I-League titles and making it to the 2008 AFC Cup semifinals. Aside from that, Armando led Dempos to victory in the Durand Cup, Super Cup, and Federation Cup. He previously coached the Dempos from 1989 to 1990, at which time they won the Pomes Cup and Scissors Cup.
Agnelo Mascarenhas and Alberto Colaço, the AIFF secretary at the time, urged Armando to pursue a career in football coaching after he resigned as a player in 1985. And thus Armando the coach started a new adventure. As they say, the rest is history.
In addition to guiding the State U-21 Santosh Trophy squad and the Goa U-23 team, Armando later became the coach of the Indian national team.
Colaco, currently the head coach of Sporting Goa in I-League 2, has enjoyed a stellar coaching career, most notably as the most successful manager in the history of I-League club Dempo over the past two decades. He is also the club’s longest-serving manager.
The awards, conferred in two categories—Regular and Lifetime—recognize outstanding contributions by coaches in nurturing sporting excellence. Subhash Rana, Deepali Deshpande, and Sandeep Sangwan were honored in the regular category, while S. Muralidharan and Armando Colaco received the Lifetime category award.
The Dronacharya Award is presented annually to honor coaches who have consistently enabled athletes to excel in international sporting events.
