Pradeep Padgaonkar
Indian Football Team Captain Sunil Chhetri announced his retirement after the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifier game to be played on June 6. Regarded as one of the greatest Indian footballers of all time, he has been capped by India 145 times. Sunil is the all-time top goal scorer of the India national team, scoring 94 goals in his career of 20 years. Chhetri received the Arjuna Award in 2011 for his outstanding sporting achievement and the Padma Shri award in 2019. In 2021, he became the first footballer to receive India’s highest sporting honour the Khel Ratna Award.
Football was very popular in Goa West Bengal (Calcutta) and Kerala in 1960-70s onwards. During my childhood, football was the household game for every Goan. Cricket was rarely played locally in those days. One could see children digging and fixing small wooden logs in the fields which had dried up post-paddy produce. This was the common scene in every Goan village. Few villages had their own playground.
Soares family had returned to Goa in 1967 from Tanzania where they had migrated in the early sixties. Dominic Soares began playing for the Saligao team. And in a short time, he was the hero of Saligao football. Saligao was always dominating in football. I remember that I had gone to watch a game opposite Saligao Government School along with my then-classmate Suresh Velgekar. That day Saligao were playing without Dominic as he had gone somewhere. We both were sad that we could not see him playing.
Suddenly he got down from a bus. He was told that Saligao were down by a few goals. He immediately wore someone’s shoes, got onto the ground and not only equalled the score but gave the lead of one goal within a few minutes. Such was his magic. I still recollect his mastery over hitting penalty kicks where each time spectators could see the goalkeeper diving at one end of the goal while the ball entered the nets on the other end.
Dominic Soares, lovingly known as Tito, was a brilliant player with exceptional ball control and technical ability, who created chances for others to score. He played for Vasco Sports Club and was part of the famous quartet ABCD. He was a truly selfless player (no selfish game) and would pass on the ball to tap and score when could have done it himself.
His dribbling was his hallmark and took defender after defender in his stride. This was evident when the Goa Team played Hungary Club in Goa. He was one player who scored goals at his will. People would throng where Dominic played his game. His amazing dribbling and scoring abilities made him a legend of the game as he brought glory to the State in the ’70s and ’80s.
He was very shy in nature. I would ask how he scored goals from Zero Angle; he would smile, at the most laugh and feel shy. To him, scoring a goal from a Zero Angle was normal, and of course natural, and did not find anything special about it. One should not say that I am exaggerating when I mention that football lovers have yet to see a player of his calibre in Goa and India.
The other Golden Boot of Goa was Francis D’Souza more known as ‘Mhatari’ (old lady). Francis D’Souza scored goals almost for fun. Those who witnessed can never forget his hat-trick against Leaders Club in the final of the Bandodkar Gold Trophy in 1976.
He scored the fastest goal; within 19 seconds after the match had started, against Salgaocar at the Eden Gardens (Calcutta) in the 1979 Federation Cup. He was the top scorer in the Santosh trophy at Srinagar when Goa was runners-up.
Francis is the first international player to be an Indian coach, with an ‘A’ grade in coaching from NIS Institute, Patiala and a national referee. He has the honour of being the first Goan professional player to play India’s No 1 club Mohun Bagan, Calcutta and later shifting to Mohammedan Sporting, Calcutta. Initially, he played for Panvel Club and later joined Dempo Sports Club.
Both Saligaokars, Dominic and Francis, earned name and fame; but were dominating in an era where football in India was not well-paid sports.
