Rene Costa (right) at a function organised by Goan Social Workers Qatar group.
DOHA
Banker Rene Costa of Fatorda grew up watching matches involving Goans challenging the mighty Portuguese teams in the pre-liberation era. The style of play of the Portuguese ‘pakle’ left a lasting impression on a young Rene. He became a lifelong fan of Portugal.
He watched many international and national matches in Goa and elsewhere, he even travelled to Portugal and other parts of Europe to watch many a football action.
One player he always wanted to meet and greet happened to be Eusebio, the Portuguese striker, who till date is the highest scorer for the Iberian country at the World Cup which Cristiano Ronaldo is on the verge of breaking at the current World Cup in Qatar.
He had a chance to meet him not once but twice, first in Portugal and on the second occasion when he met the Black Panther when the striker was in Goa, long after he had said goodbye to professional football.
The one thing which was missing from his collection was watching the World Cup and the terrific atmosphere which goes along with it.
Rene’s lifelong dream to watch Seleção das Quinas became a reality on Friday when he watched the match between South Korea and Portugal during the Qatar World Cup.
“As a child, I always saw my father listening to radio much before television came to India and thereafter following the world cup and all other football matches on radio, he always wanted to watch a World Cup, thanks to the World Cup happening in Qatar his dream became a reality,” said, Edson, who was named after Edson Arantes do Nascimento, the great footballer popularly known as Pele.
A lung cancer survivor, 81-year-old Rene was disappointed with the result of the Friday match in which Portugal lost 2-1 to South Korea with coach Fernando Santos bringing in a number of changes in the already qualified squad.
“Yes I was naturally disappointed but I am optimistic they will do well in the next round and will qualify for the next round,” said Rene, who is watching his first World Cup in person along with his son Edison, who works as Director of Quality and Compliance at a German Supply Chain company in Gurgaon, India.
On Saturday, Rene was happy to meet many Goans who had moved to Qatar from various parts of the world including Goa at a function organised by Goan Social Workers Qatar group at Beirut Restaurant, specialising in Arabic cuisine.
The group incidentally helped many Goans to get the accommodation bugs fixed and facilitated many a Goan dream of watching the football showpiece event.
Over 1000 football fans having links to Goa but settled in different parts of the world will be attending the football showpiece event in Qatar over the next few days for the 29-day event which ends with the final on December 18 at Lusail stadium.
The first batch of Goans based in Goa and elsewhere in places like UAE, Sweden, UK, USA, Canada, France, Portugal, Brazil and from other parts of the Middle East countries have since returned after watching a few matches while another set for Goans have checked into Qatar.
Among the current lot Armando Colaco, I-League coach is among those who are in Qatar for the Word Cup matches. He attended the Goan get-together organised by Goan Social Workers Qatar group.
Also present was four-time Curtorim MLA Reginaldo Lourenco and scores of football fans. The Lobo couple Michael and Deliah, who are in Qatar along with their son, could not make it to the function.
Incidentally, former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat was also in Qatar a few days back and watched two back-to-back matches on a single day and has since left for Goa.
Other football stalwarts from Goa who have been in Qatar included former Indian captain and Padma shree Brahmanand Shanwalkar, Derrick Pereira, Lector Mascarenhas, Peter Vales, Sanjeev Nagevekar and Goa Football association president Caetano Fernandes.
