Among the nine new Goan entrants in the ISL draft for season 4, Alber Gonsalves envisions dreams like every footballer in the country does these days. The Calangute-based footballer incidentally is among 23 Goan players in the ISL draft for the forthcoming season. He has got this chance on the back of encouraging domestic performances over a consistent length of time.
Basil Sylvester Pinto
PANAJI
The Sporting Clube de Goa's 24-year-old medio states that ISL has brought back the crowds to the stadiums with quality footballers participating.
"I can see experienced players in the league and youngsters like me can learn a lot from such big names," Alber stated. "It is a dream for every footballer in India to play in the ISL as it produces top-level football," the wiry footballer added.
Alber got introduced to the game at eight, when he used to accompany his dad to watch inter-village games and thereon even go as far down South to Fatorda Stadium to watch the then NFL matches as well.
Around the same time, he began representing his school, St Joseph's High School, Calangute. At nine, he joined Goa United Academy where he learnt the rudiments of the game. He also got a chance to represent his school and State at the U-14 Subroto Mukherjee Cup in Delhi. At 16, he represented St Joseph's in the Coca Cola Cup (a national level tourney), which ended up with runners-up honours. Seeing his promise, he was among the young players selected from schools across the country from the tourney for a week-long exposure tour to Brazil where they played two friendlies.
He went on to represent his college, St Xavier's, Mapusa as well. The highlight at the college level came in his second year, when he was part of the champion team at the 50th anniversary of Smt. Parvatbai Chowgule College, Margao.
In his mid-teens he won a spate of trophies at the inter-village level also bagging a few Best Midfielder awards thereby giving ample indication that he was marked out for bigger things. Deservingly, at 17, he got a break at Goa Velha Sports Club and spent four seasons with the side. "I would like to credit Welvin Menezes, General Secretary, GFA, manager of the team for discovering the talent in me and encouraging me," the promising midfielder revealed.
Meanwhile, he was part of the Gold-medal winning Goa-India football team at the Lusofonia Games 2014 held in the State.
From Goa Velha SC, he went for the senior trials to Sesa Football Academy in 2014, wherein he impressed upon the coaches there to get his name penciled into their prestigious Academy in June that year. Aware of his growing stock as a player, Sporting loaned him in 2015, only to sign with the Orange Brigade a year later.
As his performance level got better, he got selected for the prestigious Sesa Football Academy senior side in 2015. While he has been with the side for the last three seasons, he went on loan to play the Second Division for Fateh Hyderabad earlier this year.
On his experience at SFA, he revels to state that the facilities and training methodology was very professional and it was a fulfilling experience which helped in his growth as a player.
For someone who idolizes Neymar, he reminisces his first I-league goal in 2015-16 as his most memorable. "It was a goal I scored against Mumbai FC from a header while playing for Sporting," he proudly stated.
He expresses his gratitude to sir Seby who has been his coach since school years who gave him a simple but significant piece of advice, "Work hard. If you work hard, the results will come."
Looking ahead, the fine medio talent states that he will work hard on his game to improve and reach a higher level at the ISL.
