Young school team from South Goa need to win their last Pool G match to advance to quarters
MARGAO
Fr. Agnel’s Multipurpose High School, Verna will have all to play for when they meet Government Secondary School, Monigong, Andhra Pradesh in their third and final group match in the 63rd Subroto Cup football tournament being held in New Delhi.
Brimming with confidence following their opening day’s resounding 4-0 win against Mahatma Gandhi Senior Secondary School, Androth, Lakshadweep, the school from South Goa were well in control while leading through an Alex Fernandes goal against BSC+2 High School, Bokaro, Jharkhand.
Fr. Agnel’s Multipurpose High School was well in control of proceedings with the nippy Alex Fernandes a constant threat to the rival defence.
Hailing from Nagoa, Verna, Alex has been one of the stars of this young Fr. Agnel’s side that is representing Goa at the national-level football competition in the under-17 category.
Alex’s dominance was seen early in the first half when he advanced on the left wing, dribbled past a couple of players and sent a deft cross only to find Waldron Fernandes failing to connect into an empty goal.
Alex rightfully scored the opener when he delightfully connected a Jaden Pinto free kick early in the second half of play.
Trailing the Fr. Agnel’s team, the school from Jharkhand tried their best to secure an equalizer, but found Elrich D’Silva, Snedden Vaz, Alvito Pereira and Alan Miranda too tough to handle in the defence.
The Jharkhand team finally managed a goal deep into injury time, leaving the team from Goa the tough task of going all out for a win in Wednesday’s final Pool B match to advance to the quarter-finals.
Fr. Agnelo Gomes, Director of Agnel Technical Education Complex, who has flown into the national capital to encourage the young team, was all praise for the Fr. Agnel’s Multipurpose High School team.
“No doubt, we are disappointed after conceding a goal in the very last minute. But kudos to these boys for giving off their best and staying unbeaten in the competition so far,” Fr. Agnelo said.
“They are well aware that they need to go all out for three points against Government Secondary School, Monigong, Andhra Pradesh so that they can make it to the quarter-finals starting from Thursday,” he added.
Filbert Pereira, the Physical Education Teacher who has been instrumental in nurturing these players for the last three years is hopeful his team is mentally prepared to take on their opponents from Andhra Pradesh.
Subroto Cup International Football Tournament is a prestigious inter-school football tournament that is held annually in New Delhi.
First held in 1960, the annual tournament is named after the first Indian Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee. This is a unique tournament where in the champion school teams from all States and special invitees from foreign countries participate, making it one of the most noteworthy school-level football competitions in India.
