PANAJI
In today’s modern times, an Indian men’s football team reaching the semi-finals of the Olympic Games is quite unthinkable. But, this rare feat did occur during the 1956 Olympics at Melbourne and the person responsible for guiding the Indian team to the semi-finals was Goa’s very own Neville Stephen D’Souza.
The football event at the 1956 Olympics started on a wrong note. Five of the sixteen qualified teams - China, Egypt, Turkey, South Vietnam, and defending Olympic champions Hungary - withdrew before the final draw.
China boycotted the Games to protest the reception of Taiwan, Egypt boycotted to protest the Israeli, British and French invasion while Turkey, South Vietnam and Hungary boycotted due to their ongoing suppression by Soviet troops.
The tournament was played in a knock-out format among the remaining eleven teams - India, Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Australia, United States, Indonesia, Germany, Japan, Great Britain and Thailand.
India got a first-round ‘bye’ as they were drawn against Hungary who had withdrawn from the competition. India then faced the hosts Australia in the quarters, who had defeated Japan 2-0 in their first-round match.
The journey wasn't easy for the Indians. But, India managed to defeat Australia 4-2 in the quarters, thanks to the brilliant hat-trick scored by its finest striker Neville D’Souza, the Assagao-born Goan lad. D’Souza exhibited a splendid performance by the means of scoring a hat-trick in the 9th, 33rd, and 50th minutes for India. It was the first time ever that an Asian player had scored a hat-trick at the Olympics, a record not broken till date.
But, the game was marred with disagreement after the host nation claimed that the victory was a "fluke” and demanded a rematch at Sydney after the Games ended. The Australians were so stunned at the Olympic loss despite the home advantage that they were adamant about playing a match again. India even won the re-match 7-1 with Neville scoring twice.
Television was not around when Neville was playing for India at the Olympics and nor were video recordings possible. So, people have no way of knowing how good he was as a player.
After defeating the hosts Australia in the quarters, Neville and his men faced the mighty Yugoslavia in the semis. It was always going to be a tough ask for the Indians. But, they did put up a good show and went down fighting 1-4 to Yugoslavia with Neville scoring the lone goal for India in the 52nd minute.
Then FIFA President Sir Stanley Ross was so impressed with the way India played that he came to the dressing room to congratulate the team. In fact, the Indian team received a standing ovation in the dressing room despite the loss to Yugoslavia.
India then faced Bulgaria for the bronze-medal play-off match. However, India lost 3-0 to the Bulgarian side to finish fourth. It was the closest; India had ever reached to winning an Olympic medal in football in its entire history of the game.
Indeed, it was a historic achievement and one of the finest performances ever on the international stage by an Indian football team. The last time India played football at the Olympics, was way back in 1960 at Rome.
Neville finished the tournament as joint top-scorer, with 4 goals in 3 games. He retired in 1963 and focused on coaching. Later, he became a member of the selection panel of the AIFF (All India Football Federation).
This ‘unsung hero’ of Indian football history passed away in Mumbai on 16 March 1980 due to a brain haemorrhage at the early age of 47 and was survived by his wife and children, a son and two daughters.
Neville’s contributions to the game were largely overshadowed by the lack of interest given to the sport by the government. The Government of Goa finally honoured the legendary Goan striker in 1990, only 10 years after his death.
