The chants of ‘Dinho, Dinho’ will not reverberate at a full-capacity stadium at the Peddem Sports
Complex, Mapusa with Brazilian legend, Ronaldinho not coming for the Goa leg of the first edition of Premier Futsal League as he took the next flight home from Chennai, leaving his fans particularly in Goa, understandably aggrieved
Basil Sylvester Pinto
Panaji
The chants of ‘Dinho, Dinho’ will not reverberate at a full-capacity stadium at the Peddem Sports
Complex on Tuesday evening. In lieu one could expect a strange lull and several hundreds of seats empty with the adopted Goan and skipper of the Goa 5s side, a notable absentee.
With the Brazilian legend, Ronaldinho not coming for the Goa leg of the first edition of Premier Futsal League, and taking the next flight home from Chennai, his fans particularly in Goa, are understandably aggrieved. This especially, holding true when he was hitting his straps to relive days of yore to his fans lapping up his wizardry on the ball to live and broadcast audience alike.
With their talismanic Goa 5s marquee player back home to fulfill national obligations, they are up
against the odds sans a marquee player when they play the first game of the second phase of the league against Kolkata 5s, Tuesday.
Cafu, Goa 5s replaced legend is set to arrive only late Tuesday and not expected to take to the field. One is left to wonder if the 46-year- old most-capped Brazilian footballer is competent enough to play a frenetic version of a game, he now plays at a recreational level on weekends.
Lloyd D’Costa, a hotelier eliciting his thoughts on ‘Dinho’ not coming to Goa had this to say. “To tell you the truth, it is a bit of a dampener. Just his presence in India for a longer time would do a world of good for futsal and football in general; nevertheless I hope to see him in the next edition." But he also added that the legion of ‘Dinho’ fans should also be understanding.
“He has gone back for the Paralympics and answering the nation’s call, as such we should take it in the right spirit,” the Margao resident added. “Nevertheless, there are a lot of legends here like Giggs, Scholes, etc from whom youngsters can learn a hello lot,” he concluded on a brighter note.
On the other hand, Savika Gomes, a football fan taking to the futsal fever is chagrined with Ronaldinho not coming to showcase his footie magic in Goa. “I am disappointed at not being able to usurp the sheer delight of the world’s greatest natural dribbler whose skills have a child like enthusiasm. His adeptness with his left foot is amazing,” the Cansaulim-based football aficionado revealed. “I am sure many young guns were looking forward to rub shoulders and shake hands with him," Gomes added. “Watching him play for three years after the 2002 World Cup has been a pleasure,” she nostalgically reminicised.
Shri Naik, from Porvorim who had booked his ticket online for Goa 5s last league game versus Bangalore 5s on July 21 is also upset with Ronaldinho not making it to Goa. “I purchased my ticket easily through meraevents.com and only later through Facebook I got to know he was not coming,” the accountant with IFB Industries lamented. “He (Ronaldinho) is a magical boy on the football field and a good entertainer. I will miss him for the remainder games. I will miss him because he has taken away all the passion and excitement of today’s game (July 19) with him (going away),” he revealed without concealing his dissatisfaction.
