The year 1989 will go down in Goa’s sporting history as a memorable one. After all, the state’s first major sporting project, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium at Fatorda was built in this year and the person responsible for getting the project done was then Goa’s Sports Minister Monte Cruz who passed away on Tuesday. Infact, the stadium was built in a record time of eight months and was inaugurated by then Vice President of India Shankar Dayal Sharma.
The first international football tournament held at the newly constructed Fatorda stadium was the Nehru Cup. It was the most sought-after international football tournament in India during the 80s and 90s decade.
The Nehru Cup was started in 1982 and Margao hosted the ninth edition of the prestigious tournament in 1989 from 19 January – 04 February which saw the participation of six nations – Hungary, Soviet Union, North Korea, Iraq, Poland and hosts India during that year.
It was a football feast for the soccer crazy Goan crowd who had thronged the stadium in large number to witness an international sporting spectacle for the first time in their own backyard.
The tournament was played in a round robin format with the top two sides advancing to the finals.
The Indian team was led by Goa’s very own Mauricio Afonso. The legendary midfielder from Chinchinim had also figured in Goa’s Santosh Trophy wins in 1983 and 1984. Infact, the Indian squad consisted of a record number of seven players from Goa - Mauricio Afonso, Norbert Gonsalves, Derek Pereira, Savio Madeira, Camillo Gonsalves, Mario Soares and John Araujo. Though, all of them were not in the playing XI at the same time.
The Hungarian team had players mostly from its top division club Videoton SC, Iraq's team was their national youth team in preparation for the World Youth Championship in February 1989. The Soviet Union and Polish teams were mostly the national under-21 squads, with the addition of two overage players. The North Korean team was their national side.
India had a disastrous outing losing all their five games, thereby finishing at the bottom of the tournament. The Indian side lost to Poland, Soviet Union, North Korea, Iraq and Hungary 2-0, 2-0, 2-1, 2-1 and 1-0 respectively. Bikash Panji and Satyajit Chatterjee were the only goal scorers for India during the tournament.
Soviet Union, with 10 points, topped the league stage winning all their five round robin games. Hungary which lost to Soviet Union 3-2 finished second with 8 points. North Korea, Iraq, Poland and India took the remaining slots - third, fourth, fifth and sixth place in the league stage with 5, 4, 3 and 0 points respectively.
It was a clash of the titans in the finals. After all, the two best sides in tournament – Soviet Union and Hungary – had qualified.
The stadium was packed to the capacity with spectators occupying every inch and corner. Police had a tough time controlling the crowd. Barring a minor incident of a spectator jumping the fence, the matched went smoothly.
It was yet another thrilling contest between two quality sides. In the league stage, Soviet Union had defeated Hungary 3-2 in a closely fought contest. However, the final proved to be a different ball game altogether.
The Hungarians defeated reigning champions, the mighty Soviet Union 2-0 to end their golden run of four consecutive titles from 1985 - 1988. It was the second Nehru Cup title for Hungary after their maiden triumph in 1983.
As chief guest, Union Sports Minister Margaret Alva gave away the trophies in the presence of a host of other dignitaries - AIFF President Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, Chief Minister Pratap Singh Rane and Sports Minister Monte Cruz.
Since then, Fatorda stadium has hosted several international football tournaments which include the AFC U-16 Championship and BRICS U-17 Football Cup in 2016, FIFA U-17 World Cup, for men in 2017 and women in 2022, AFC Champions League in 2021 and ISL finals for a record five times. But, the 1989 Nehru Cup will be remembered forever in Goa’s sporting folklore.
